April’s 8 Taurus Solar Eclipse (Pt. 2: Sun in Taurus / Eta Aquarids)

Taurus (1907) by Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis

It’s about now in the lengthy March 1-May 20 Mars retrograde that things begin feeling really questionable. Mars retrogrades are always long and by nature tend to drag or slow us down. We are now about two-thirds through the retrograde and things are ‘coming out’ which are not one’s finest moments. About now there’s a ‘gap’ - or inability to achieve what we want…and the maintaining of  connections or activities we’re grown used to is likely to raise a couple of question. Are we willing to keep pushing ourselves? Will we continue to believe in what we’re doing should we find we’re alone in our belief?

- link to -

Mars and Saturn Retrograde

Eclipse Effects in Libra

And that’s not all. Even while slogging through mental Mars quicksand, there are all the intricate convolutions so very typical of the ongoing Ixion/Ras-Alhague conjunction which began back on February 22nd.

- link to -

Ixion/Ras Alhague

Amidst all that, the Sun enters Taurus – an act which on a metaphysical level sets many a thing in motion.

The date: April 20th.

The time: 3:57 in the morning, UT/+0.

Elementally, this moves us from the fiery world of Aries visions and personal conviction-insight-consciousness into the more ‘giving’ and ‘earthy’ Sun in Taurus zone – a time which is about whatever sort of stability, security, nourishment we need in life. Information, food, respect, abilities, money – whatever the basic need is in life, what that need tests is Taurean, as it tests our internal and intrinsic ability to deal with being confronted by the realities (not the ‘vision’) of what will support life…ours and that life in which we live (the world around us, in other words).

Normally this entrance would be one colored by fixed star Mirach at 0 Taurus, supporting a reigniting of the desire to interact in a more-or-less supportive manner because under Sun in Taurus the concept of give-and-take is brought into a basic, almost simplistically easy form. Yet with our 2014 Sun-Taurus ingress also comes a South Node at 28 Aries – just to begin with, and that’s something of a notice about internal-versus-external influences or opinions or ‘directives’ which are raising questions for you, me – and everyone else, too.

Our questions don’t sound the same, but they are: they’re about security – starting with how secure we feel about life, moving from there to how stable or secure we feel with our Self and who we’re being…and moving on from there to others reflecting what we’re feeling, which just may be why so much about life is likely to get us focused on our values.

And specifically, where we are out of kilter with our values. Or where we say we value one thing and do something which demonstrates some dichotomy in our personal character as well as the inaccuracy of stated or ‘vouched for’ standards.

The additional modifiers here are Tantalus at 3 Taurus (conjunct the Sun from ‘ahead’) and Juno at 26 Aries, conjuncting the Sun from ‘behind.’ Sometimes this ‘ahead-behind’ dynamic manifests as things we’ve done or experienced against things which are yet to be done – or even situations which are yet to arise, people we will yet meet, opportunities we will yet choose to avail ourselves or not.

Seeing as I posted on Tantalus just recently, if you would like to read up on Tantalus details here is that link.

- link to - 

Tantalus, Station-Retrograde

Otherwise, with a brief nod to Tantalus as an indicator of our ability (or choice to/not to) weigh decisions correctly for both short-and-long term purposes, this solar ingress looks like exactly what we might expect at a point in time when Earth is rotating towards begin eclipsed from an area of the zodiac where the sense of survival is vital even if the necessity of physical survival isn’t.

And the way metaphysics works, to teach us that…to get us through our ego walls and to the point that we separate those two standards…we are going to come to the solar eclipse having perceived various forms of both. We may see that clearly. Then again, we may not want to see anything.

It’s a question of honesty – not with others (which is yes, what they may think), but with our Self.

This incoming eclipse is about values. Not ‘theirs,’ ours. It isn’t about ‘them’ – it’s about whether our values are what they should be…need to be…can be…and all the falsehoods we may be living, all the  structures we’ve built in the name of defense which really amount to fear. More specifically, ego fears – those threats (real or imagined) that we may not live up to who others think we are – or to the measure of the person we have long told ourselves we’re being.

And once we get that far? Then we have an option to change or not change, depending on the status of that self respect which underlies our self worth – and thus our personal and individual values….and the response that raises in us to whatever others are doing, prioritizing, opting for or investing the strength of their values, their resources, their abilities in.

Also – it’s unlikely that anything which is coming to a head has been ‘of the moment’ or swift coming on. Most of what is at stake now or up for consideration (or lack thereof…) has its origins in the past, separate from the fact that this April’s solar eclipse is a ‘recalling’ of situations and cycles either set off, avoided, initiated, instigated or ‘bought into’ back in April 1995.

Yes, in case you didn’t know eclipse degrees repeat – as do all lunar phases. Known as the Metonic cycle (so named for a fellow named Meton who lived long, long ago) the 19-year eclipse cycle continues to raise questions and issues in our life over and over again, asking us if we’ve ‘settled’ for something which seems comfortable enough…or good enough…or whether we’re living a life which is true to who we are (really) at our core.

Obviously anyone younger than 19 years old has not met up with this particular eclipse degree as yet, and there’s nothing to say that your experience…no matter how old or young you are…is going to be positive or negative when it comes to solar eclipse effects.

The key is your chart. So if you’ve run into any sort of quagmire over the past several months which challenges either how you feel about yourself or those values which you extend into the world or use in managing or operating in your world… this eclipse may well have your name on it. If so, you are not only currently in a state of unresolved flux (a feeling common during the last few weeks before any solar eclipse) but you are feeling challenged in a way which right or wrong, real or imagined has everything to do with how you’re going to feel about yourself.

You know…how you feel when at night you close your eyes and wait for sleep to come.

We are all mortal. That’s one note very much on point here. No matter who we are, no matter where or how we live, there are things we all need like sleep, like food, like the oxygen we breath. We all have feelings, longings, vulnerabilities and dreams. Some will happen, some will not. Some we hold onto as balm and motivation while we struggle towards some goal even if deep inside we know the dream will never be real.

At least we tried.

Yes, at some level, that’s the question now: will we try…or will we simply be trying – or even tried?

That last version could lead to a whole ‘other’ kind of ‘conviction’ – as opposed to being convinced - to be sure…but no matter who we are, no matter what the issue or outcome of some issue currently is, why we care (or don’t care) about Self or others remains the central question.

At least for now. After all, solar eclipses – particularly those which we find difficult, disruptive or destructive – are only in part about the issue of the moment, though that will have to be dealt with one way or another to be sure. And that we don’t (or haven’t) dealt with? That will deal with us through mechanisms set in motion at this time.

All of which brings up another point about Taurus. Though Taurus is the testing ground for inner security, it’s tests most often have some external or externalized factor which must be negotiated in connection with others or your world. Why?

Because it is only through tests and negotiations that we prove our inner security.

No, not to them – to our Self, which is why the truly secure person is immune to what others say…not in the uncaring sense, but in a manner which acknowledges differences without judgment in an accepting and caring manner.

With Taurus, manners count. They don’t have to be perfect, they don’t even have to be polite. They simply need to acknowledge realities – whether we like those realities (or want to admit them) or not. The importance of this may not seem immediately apparent until you consider Taurus as the sign before Gemini – the signature of mentality and communication. That makes Taurus the “12th derivative sign” to Gemini, making it not all that unlikely that a smattering of glitches which test our notions of security and/or what we think is (or isn’t) secure(d) in our opinion…or in reality.

A couple of other items on the menu, at least one of which I suspect will bring great cheer:

ITEM ONE: The Eta Aquarid meteor shower begins on April 19th and lasts through May 28th. As the Lyrids will continue dappling our night skies until April 25th, this means Earth is currently enjoying a double helping of what we might call “meteoric influences.”

Meteor showers are said to bring us ‘sprinkles of inspiration’ and the Eta Aquarids tend to be big scale, large scope and greatly ‘universal’ (if you think of the term ‘Aquarids’ as being akin to ‘Aquarius,’ you’ll be rather close). And perhaps – given the solar eclipse in Taurus – this indicates a time when new ideas are ‘sparked’ which help us see what isn’t working in our lives and what to do about it…or where our actual talents may prove useful.

Perseid meteor shower by John Walker (July 2011)

Then there are the Lyrids, a shower which has its in constellation Lyra – where Pluto is currently applying several-years worth of transit pressure to fixed star Vega, a process which will ultimately result in ‘transformations of charismatic forces,’ whether that means some source comes on line, disappears entirely or is transformed in essence or effect. We’re in “year two” of this 2013-2017 evolution of our time and lives and as astrological symbols go, Pluto isn’t known for manifesting as the ‘situation genteel.’

The bottom line here is this is yet another indication of our changing times…and changing minds. Whatever it is we’re supposed to be learning, as we move through the next week (through the end of the Lyrids on April 25th) things are still in revelation mode. We’re seeing what to do…we may even know how we want to do it…

And yet it’s not time. Something isn’t established or doesn’t yet exist.

So…what has to change before it does?

Well…probably several things. (After all, the eclipse doesn’t take place until the 29th.) But among all of those, astrologically the one thing I think you’re going to care about most is as follows: do you remember that t-square we keep discussing?

You know, that Pluto-Uranus-Jupiter t-square? The one which started rattling our personal ‘change is in the wind’ chains back in late July 2013?

Yes…that one. Well, it’s over.

(insert: sounds of cheering)

Not so fast...it's only the t-square which is over. But in that regard, all you have to deal with there is another few days - and the slackening of the t-square effect after that (call it the better part of next week).

So here’s the schedule of the t-square break-up (which to paraphrase the famous song may or may not be hard to do):

1. Jupiter squares Uranus on July 20th at 7:26 in the morning (UT/+0)

2. Jupiter perfects its opposition to Pluto (conjunct Vega) on Sunday, April 10th at 11:06 in the evening, UT/+0.

HOWEVER…with this comes the fact that Uranus (see above) will square Pluto (conjunct Vega) on Monday the 21st (at 6:39 in the evening UT/+0 time).

And that means yes, the t-square is ending. But that only removes the Jupiter goal.

So we’re ending the need to get past some need to break out of limitations or change priorities or recognize our greater potential through greater perspectives.

On the other hand, we’re also ending some opportunities – namely the one which says we could break out of limitations or change priorities through recognition of greater potentials and personal perspectives.

Whichever ‘end’ of this you’re on, your challenges are likely to become more simple and direct as we move through this time, but the shift to get there will require harnessing both ability and willingness to connect to others not through aims, but through whatever Taurus issues are now becoming apparent. Seeing as the 'remnants' of this t-square will become a Uranus/Pluto square lasting through 2015 into early 2016, we are being told that our lives are going to change - in some cases, radically and that those among us who are willing to grow, innovate and remain flexible will do best.

Also...whether you know it or not, the specific and terribly human values which underlie those dimly defined yet all-prevalent mortal forces being felt...? Within that...within whatever vulnerability you feel as you recognize your humanity or that of others, there lie your keys to greater benefits.
.
.
.

Saturn, Sedna, Ceres, Jupiter: Manifest Gearing in Motion

A 'dragon storm' on Saturn

(photo credit: Cassini spacecraft/NASA, JPL, Space Science Institute - September 15, 2004)

Back as February started there was a couple of days astrologically marked by Sedna going direct and Ceres entering Scorpio. 

(link) Sedna Direct/Ceres enters Scorpio

Of course with Sedna nothing is quick – so though the February 5th station will have ‘marked’ a turn of perspective, beyond choices of that moment, there’s an awareness of what the whole of this period means which will take time to formulate and become something we can…and may yet consider acting on.

So don’t forget what you’ve been doing. Good or bad, it’s a reference point you’ll look back on from somewhere down the line as surely as these days and weeks passed have gotten us all to see time’s swelling continuum.

In fact, that Sedna hasn’t changed degrees is something of a metaphysical ‘directive,’ if you will…one which says we’re not ‘moving off the mark’ – we’re just ‘turning things around.’

With Sedna in Taurus, this could be our seeing what someone else values or why they value it. We could also be involved in an extended (Sedna) period of time which is about developments leading to a better perspective on who we are – and aren’t. With an orbital cycle of over 11,000 years, dwarf planet Sedna isn’t about ‘this instant,’ it’s about all the many ‘instants’ which go into those things we never expected or suspected which end up transforming our life or perspective on life. 

 Jupiter, Mercury and Virtue by Dosso Dossi

(16th century painting - oil on canvas, Wawel Royal Castle, Krakow)

  
We are all…in our own way…cautious. It’s built in. And however your ‘caution’ tendencies work, or whatever it will take to ‘caution’ you, that’s been part of the mix going into events and recent trends. It’s as if we need to know what our limits are so we can decide whether to…or how to continue on. Or if we’re willing to let go of something in favor of some ‘greater capacity.’

Through whatever our Sedna process is, we either slowly fulfill our greater possibilities or merely sink into our depths, there to be endlessly drowned in the unconscious abandonment of greater potential.

Which is…by the way, one of the ways Sedna differs greatly from Ixion – which we’ve been talking about of late. With Ixion we always ‘know’ better but something gets us to give in to that we know we shouldn’t be doing. 

Of course that ‘should versus shouldn’t’ would be the sticking point. In Ixion’s case the challenge is bedrock reality and what we know we believe right or wrong, real or unsubstantial. With Sedna, the challenge is to let go of whatever our current reality is because we’ve outgrown it. Only by letting go can we embrace and be embraced by our more powerful potentials.

So how to know which is which?

In general, Ixion is something about you or in your life which you do or have 'in interaction' with others, or at least in the presence of others - should you, or shouldn't you do, be or believe that way? Sedna is broader - more philosophical and more about who we are against who we would have the capacity to be if we gave ourselves permission to own every scrap of our abilities. In embodying Sedna, we become more a part of - not apart from our world.

And if any of this sounds like ‘earning our way’ through life, that seems both true and particularly apt now as the increased sense of ‘applied pressure’ has manifested throughout February as a series of ‘Saturn tasks’ – things which have to be done so that other things can happen.

The ‘plan’ – the idea of having a plan and understanding what any plan involves – is the Ceres part of this equation, with Ceres in Scorpio emphasizing a focus on emotional abilities, inabilities, vulnerabilities, defenses and possible/absolute costs…with ‘costs’ referring to anything financial or otherwise which ‘costs’ us – or our (Ceres) plan at some emotional level.

There is a place where Ceres always represents our need – as well as the instinct - to protect ourselves, whether that comes from a real need, imaginary danger or some knee-jerk reaction/habit we’ve gotten into.

Even one we’ve allowed ourselves to get into, whether it’s useful or…you know…costly. At worst, we will now experience relationship stresses, which considering the Sun is in Pisces may promote some sort of feeling of defensiveness – even a touch of panic on our part. That we are only likely to experience such notions in areas of our life where something or someone has been unfair (that being the 1 Scorpio quality brought in by Ceres’ station)…that asks where exactly we are willing to tread, considering none of us are angels.

We just aren’t. And as mortals, we aren’t supposed to be angels – we’re supposed to be figuring out what’s wrong with the way life as a mortal works – a process which tests our sense of inner coherence over the next week or so. By feeding situational dynamics down into inner niches of our more often than not secret soul we are brought to know how our areas of blockage are really places in our life where we’re not ready to take on responsibility.

Or maybe we just don’t want to have to really grow up?

As Saturn opposes Sedna on Wednesday the 26th (UT/+0 time) Jupiter’s square to Uranus (as part of a greater Pluto-Uranus-Jupiter t-square) perfects.

Obviously where the planets are now isn’t where they were when the energy reaching us got stirred up. But given all the implied adjustment for time signals here are one part confluence plus a mighty push towards change.

Or is that a confrontation with that which won’t – or is unsettled in the face of, or by the idea of change?

 A 'false color' image of Umbriel one of Uranus's more than several moons

(photo credit: USGS, August 2007)

Much now depends on whether we are needing to renovate or innovate. With Jupiter’s square to Uranus (as part of the bigger Pluto-Uranus-Jupiter t-square) perfecting on the same date – February 26th (UT/+0) – that Saturn’s opposition to Sedna comes to exact, points are being made.

We’re being taken down to bare bones with ourselves. And an evocative journey it is.

We can expect our feelings to be flexing now as part of all else we’re involved in. There’s obligation in the air and we know it’s as important as it is even if we feel unprepared to cope.

But as soon as we get that far and admit that much to ourselves…it’s about then that we feel ourselves knowing that we indeed can cope. It’s more about a choice of whether we want to.

And for some, whether they know how to.

Realism counts moving forward; there is nothing for it but to recognize that much is at stake now. It has very little to do with life around us and everything to do with whether we are willing to own our strengths as possible detriments and those ‘suspected’  vulnerabilities as under-utilized sources of vast potential.

And then there’s that other little fact…the one about the date of this dual Saturn/Jupiter ‘exactitude’ also being the opening of Mercury’s station-direct ‘turnaround’ on February 28th. That window being February 26 through March 2, we would expect things occurring right now - particularly those which occur right at the beginning of the ‘window’ (around the 26th) to indicate other things which are going to appear or be fulfilled in the future. 

Where or how far in the future depends on your individual chart...but we do know that as Mercury is going to be in the late ‘teen degrees of Aquarius about then, it’s the idea of the thing which counts – the clarity of the passion, the quirks, the attention to technique, technical aspects, details and good old fashioned attitude in putting things out there which counts.

Nike may say ‘Do it’…I say ‘Own it.’

They go together.

Much is in motion - and much of the current question is how much, or to what degree we are involved...or how much or to what degree we have exempted ourselves. "Safe" may be the right name of the game in the personal sense, but in a greater sense the real question - the path which holds our greatest potential and which will require the most of what we know ourselves to be...that requires taking some sort of risk.

And where you are with the mere idea of that risk (the idea being the air sign/Aquarian part of all now)...that's not about the risk itself - that's about the state of your emotions.

Which is a whole different matter. You can solve the problem and maybe the problem (challenge, job, effort, etc.) will be solved - at least for the moment or perhaps forever.

But that still leaves the feeling part.

Some of us will tend wholly to feeling things now, ignoring the outside world or our need (read: responsibility) to be involved with the world on its basis, not our carefully cherry-picked one.

You'll feel better so long as you don't look outside - outside maybe of your Self, and maybe of that window on the world you've been avoiding. 

Oh yes…in case you hadn’t heard, that we’re special isn’t what wins in Aquarius. Aquarius is all about that thing which is special about us which we can be appreciated for – which implies we put out there with full acceptance of what we’re doing as our calling card and foundation.

To get where we want to be, to be the person who is that person living that life now asks us to let go of some part of who we used to be. That’s hard – none of us deal well with growing pains when the angst and agony are ours.

Do it anyway. You’ll like yourself for it, both in the short and long run.
.
.
.

Jupiter Square Uranus

A microscope photographs crystals of Vitamin C

(Josef Reischig, CSc, 2008)

As Uranus moves into 10 Aries on February 15th, that will just edge out Jupiter retrograding into 10 Cancer on February 16th.

Astrologically, 10 Aries to 10 Cancer is a cardinal square – and a departing square at that. What do we mean by a ‘departing square’? Well, first there’s the square part – that being an aspect between planets within 5 degrees of a 90-degree angle. All squares challenge us to grow through taking on the new, the untried, the different sort of approach.

We don’t want to.

In fact, when faced with squares we tend not to think we’d even be any good at whatever would be involved in taking on the challenge of internally integrating some ‘untried’ factor (or some approach we aren’t personally familiar or comfortable with) in solving our current situational dilemmas.

And let us not forget…that there is a square going on says we’re having dilemmas.

(Yes, we all tend to forget that part. But to get an answer implies there was a question, just as to have a challenge means there must be a problem or something else to be good and stuck over.)

As for 'cardinal' - that refers to the type of impulse of the 'let's just do it and see what happens' type, which goes rather well with a departing aspect as ‘departing’ refers to the faster moving planet (the one closer to the Sun, in this case Jupiter) and how its moving away from the theoretical conjunction with Planet Two (in this case, Uranus in Aries) isn't something we're waffling about...and isn't something we feel any need to endlessly anylize. Currently in the throes of  learning from or dealing with matters in the wake of some (Uranian) sudden change of status or realization of the rather personal (Aries) type, we're all into who we are, what we've done, what we've not done - or who we are being because of what we are or are not doing.

To go with this, we have the Jupiter being in Cancer – so we know that things surrounding the period indicated by this square are going to ‘reveal’ our nature to us through really basic qualities and considerations…things we tend to take for granted as ‘just part of life.’

Do they have to be? Should they be?

Those are only some of the questions buzzing about now…and moving forward. Given that this square is forming up at 10 degrees of Aries and Cancer we know just from the number that there is a degree of agitation in the mix. Any degree between 10 and 19 of any sign tends to manifest ‘fervently’ so with the ‘I/Me’ sign of Aries and the ‘who I am and where I come from natively on the emotional level’ of Cancer we have a recipe for anything from restlessness to outbursts to really dramatic efforts and explosions – and it would be hard to think going in that we would know which would be good or bad once the dust has settled.

And that won’t come for a while yet. This Jupiter square Uranus period arises now as yet another indicator that we are in the middle of a massive growth period which in breaking us down offers us the chance to build anew – and more realistically.

Or at least accurately.

For Jupiter to be in retrograde now should also be a tip-off that this probably isn’t the start of this process. After all, didn’t Jupiter strike a forward-motion (direct) square at some time in the (semi)recent past?

As a matter of fact, yes. (How good of you to ask…) This Jupiter square started stirring and burning away our dangling misconceptions back in August of 2013…which to jar our collective memory would be just prior to September when the two month ‘breaking down’ period in advance of the November 2013 solar eclipse began. At the time, Jupiter was direct and Uranus was in retrograde, so the ‘shaking up’ of things occurred as we were “pressing ahead” and looking to expand or working to have things happen in our ‘regular world’ life. We were doing the Jupiter-direct-in-Cancer thing of building for the future and feeling good (at least relatively) about who we were and what we were doing.

And then the uncertainty started. Or the restlessness. Or the boredom. Or the sheer necessity of it all. A long time ago the person who taught me basic astrology (and yes, you too can learn from the same text I did, it’s still in print!)…when I asked him what Uranus stood for, he gave me an answer I remember to this day: ‘Uranus is the premise which states that even if you insist on staying in a rut, that life will cause you to redecorate that rut now and again.’

That’s actually a pretty genius definition as it embraces both the idea of outward and inner change. The forces which we think of astrologically as Uranian are those which by ‘disrupting’ the harmonic or harmony in some part of life awakens us to possibilities – and the possibility that what we’re doing right now may not be all there is to do.

Or that we want to do.

Or need to do.

With Uranus we may know the parameters of what we’re doing or need to risk at least our (Aries) concept of Self through learning things and discovering more about who we are and what we’re capable of.

Or not capable of, obviously.

And then there are the specifics of degrees: back in August 2013, Uranus was retrograding back through 12 and 11 Aries, triggering ‘me/my life’ conflicts and questions. We were being tested on what we thought our individuality was worth, and whether we understood that worth, whether those around us understood that worth and where there were disagreements, whether those disagreements had to do with compromises we want to make, compromises we’re ‘expected’ to make and how each of us goes about balancing out who we need to be in our own life and life span against who and what we are ‘expected’ to be – whether that’s by society, our significant other, our family, children, boss, co-workers, friends…whomever.

Between that time and now as Jupiter and Uranus move back into position for Part II of their square we had the 11 Scorpio solar eclipse and the Capricorn Venus retrograde.

Just think through the numbers: the Jupiter/Uranus square originated at 12 Cancer/Aries. Then we had an 11 Scorpio eclipse…and then we got pretty much waffle-ironed by the Venus retrograde ending at 13 Capricorn. Numerically, every inch of that is about how or how well we deal with all things emotional. And no matter where your emotional Self is these days, in the end the question  - at least that one being posed at the moment – is who do we know we can be if we live up to the best of who we are – and does that require making any changes or some kind of owning up to mistakes made which we now need to correct?

This second round of the Jupiter/Uranus square is coming under Mercury retrograde – which automatically tells us to think things over. Mercury retrograde has a pretty fearsome reputation, some of which is merited. Certainly those who speak before they think or who choose this as the moment to bulldoze into something new without thought or reference will tend to go awry. But on the other hand, this can be a time for experimenting – when if you can ‘just try’ something out for the sake of trying you can learn a lot or otherwise benefit from the experience. As with all personal planet retrogrades, Mercurial (conversation, textual or written) matters may go a bit wry or off-track and need ‘reworking’ – just as creative and/or financial affairs under Venus retrograde may have also been a bit ‘off the mark’ or (let’s be real here) sloppy.

**a pause while ten thousand eyes glare at the monitor... **

Yes, sloppy. You know, less than what we’re capable of doing? That kind of sloppy. And it would have been fine except that everyone else was feeling…well, critical.

But that's how it works. Under Venus retrograde we're going to do less than what we know we're capable of because the whole of the cycle is about learning to value our Self on an intrinsic level - that which will become instinctual - the object there being to grow self regard, self value...self worth. That which shakes us seeks to get us to value that 'thing' in terms of the sign Venus is transiting in.

Example: the recent Venus retrograde was in Capricorn, a Saturn-ruled sign which rules (among other things), time. And perhaps you heard that actor Seymour Hoffman died as the Venus station moved through? The astrological flag here is Hoffman's having had a lunar return as the station occurred, but my point here is this: if his passing affected you in such a way to make you think 'I should value the time I have here on Earth,' then Venus retrograding in Capricorn did its job.   

Moving forward now in present tense (and for some of us, very tense) Uranus supports those ‘stop-gap’ measure and ‘temporary fixes’ which are aimed at changes being made. Until Mars goes retrograde next month the ‘doers’ among us are not likely to be fully ‘owning’ what part of today’s goings on are problems, disappointments and bigger challenges we’ve created for ourselves by NOT changing our way of doing or being…and then there are the shirkers, hiders and avoiders who aren’t likely to be getting off our duff to do what really needs doing.

And just to make this interesting, we’re all probably doing a little bit of both. (Don’t they say variety is the spice of life?) So let’s just say that moderation is more of an asset than usual; under this sort of influence we’re likely to want things, like things, not like things, want to do something or not do something merely in the moment. Especially with Mercury in retrograde, those who aren’t engaged in some sort of ‘me’ work (working on me, or on something which will allow me a more effective way of being the person I am)…those people are likely to be looking for something to do at that very level which fosters glib times and fast-track mistakes.

And then there’s Valentine’s Day, which will be under Mercury retrograde with the lunar nodes (the emblems of relating through relationship) at 0 Scorpio and Taurus. As an astrologer, I certainly can say that if what you want to do is commit to working on who you are in a relationship or through a relationship that’s fine as that’s something you can do yourself, and under Mercury retrograde the most productive clarifications we reach are those which allow us to chart a more healthy and reliable path for our Self. If you are (for whatever reason) looking to found or negotiate an open sort of ‘let’s see’ sort of arrangement, Mercury retrograde plus Jupiter-square-Uranus will help with the freedom part, making this also a perfectly fine time to throw those friendly fun greetings at friends who know your style.

But whatever that style is, you had best know what your style is now. You had best be ready to stand with yourself against all which you have done…and not done…over the days and weeks – even months and years recently past. All those things which Mercury retrograde ‘brings up’ – be it people from your past or choices/determinations made badly or even left unmade – all those are likely to rear up and bite you, either in real or simulated form.

In your mind, in your heart, in your face – it’s all grist for life’s mill going forward. We still know this is a departing square – so we’re building. And though Uranus is in Aries now, the actual point at which the current Jupiter/Uranus synodic cycle began is 27 Pisces, a degree known for promoting very odd, very quirky behaviors…theoretically so we can learn better about who we are and what it means to be human.

Jupiter and Antiope by Hendrick Goltzius (1612)

It’s so not cookie-cutter. Considering the degree and the fact that we’re talking about a synodic cycle involving Uranus, impossibilities being proven not just possible but workable and all those things we have thought really well hidden (especially from ourselves) are going to both affect things and ‘come to the surface’ every time we go through one of these Jupiter-Uranus periods.

So we all shows our quirks…and maybe even some unacceptable behavior last August. Now we’re finding out what we’ve learned. Or we’re thinking over what we learned and whether the ‘thing’ was wrong…or maybe just how we went about doing it was wrong.

Jupiter-Uranus asks us to grow. And it asks that we take on some quality of ‘new,’ whether that’s in what we do, coping with what we learn or choosing how to change things going forward. At 10 degrees of Aries and Cancer we are challenged by whatever we have not yet learned to cope with, discard or heal at the same time as we are endowed with an extraordinary insight which could limit us simply because the vision it affords is so different than what we are used to. Many of us will have problems with trying to take on the whole of a problem at once when the only sensible way to achieve one’s aims is to work through things bit by bit, freeing ourselves up one piece at a time.

Apparently there’s something to be learned by doing this piecemeal. That may have to do with a dualistic thread which pits personal aims against strong humanistic impulses. And yet...Aquarius (the sign Mercury will retrograde back into as of February 13) in combination with Uranus as part of this configuration suggests that things are neither 'standard' nor predictable.

Or maybe that's us. Maybe we're not standard or predictable, even in terms of who we claim to be in our own regard.

And whether it's Uranus or Aquarius, we shouldn't want the old, the classic, the standard or status quo. Under either influence, too much pent up energy produces eruptions - which may happen now. Such events and moments can occur in real time...or in our mind. We can have a breakthrough in real world terms – or come to some realization about how to break out of our shell.  

There is no right or wrong here…except for that which works in your life. If you know your natal chart and know that one of these two planets (Jupiter or Uranus) tends to be problematic for you…or if it is for any reason heavily ‘weighted’ (emphasized) by your natal chart, this is an opportunity to learn better – but it might come at some sort of cost.

So this could be the moment when you realize some error. Or how to correct one already made.

Jupiter’s square to Uranus perfects on February 25th…and considering that this date is about a week out from Jupiter’s turn to direct, we can expect that singular sort of ‘push’ which tends to blanket all of life as any planet approaches its station.

Ordinarily we would just see that as an escalating inner desire to achieve something. But this year, before we get to Jupiter’s station we’ll see three other stations: Mercury’s on February 28th, Mars’ on March 1st and Saturn’s on March 2nd.

That's a lot of energy...a lot of pressure...and a lot of potential. Are you doing anything which is important to you? Should you be doing something which is important to you? 
.
.
.

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.
.
.
.