Mercury by Mariner 10
photo credit: NASA/JPL
What does it mean that Jupiter opposes Saturn as Mercury enters the 2-day ‘station allowance’ window prior to going retrograde?
Well, let’s start by considering that when we find Jupiter and Saturn paired together in any sort of which-way, we’re always getting a signal which pertains to the building (or ability to build) something. In a personal chart we’d determine the ‘what’ by the house Jupiter and/or Saturn was in, the signs…all that stuff.
But bottom line, these two are considered the premier emblems of ‘building’ – be it a house, a career, a life, a body of learning…whatever you’re into, Saturn provides the structural element and Jupiter symbolizes the effort to grow and the growth/gains thus made.
Here we have Saturn in Libra. Hmmm….that means its about the effects we have on others – the results of our building, to stick with the original premise. Libra is where cause/effect gets into either the moment of putting it out there…or getting whatever it is you do (or don’t) get for your efforts.
Saturn in Libra tends to provoke a lot of projections. There’s a lot of saying ‘that person there – they’re the bad guy!’ when we’d be far better to look in the mirror and …well, not automatically say that’s the bad guy, but consider that maybe the reason why we’re not getting the applause is because we’re not entertaining the audience?
Yes, this is simplistic – but it’s also apt.
Next is the fact that Saturn is in retrograde. Okay…so Libra already being a sign about recognizing what we get from people for what we offer or give them of ourselves…so what with retrogrades being about thinking things over and getting ‘straight’ with ourselves before trying to conquer the rest of the world…is this about thinking over what we spend our time thinking about?
Maybe. And remember – Mercury, symbol of thought – Mercury is also about to go retrograde.
So yes, there is a whole lotta emphasis on what we think at the moment….and maybe more to the Venus-ruled Libra point, what we expect out of life.
That also seems very much in line with the idea that this Saturn/Jupiter opposition happens at 14 degrees of Aries (Jupiter) and Libra (Saturn). With Jupiter in Aries there’s a great conscious quality to these days (and months) which is all about realizing where we are and aren’t getting in life…what it takes to be the person we want to be who gets where they want to go – that being the Libra/Saturn part.
And the opposition?
Well…looking at this Aries Jupiter opposition Libra Saturn as a unit, one would have to think this has a goodly deal to do with a moment in time (the transiting opposition) when what isn’t working – at least yet (Saturn retrograde in Libra) hits home.
There is, as always, the personal level of this conversation – how this may affect each of us as individuals. That this happens at 14 degrees (Aries and Libra) automatically tells us that anyone whose chart is sensitive to these harmonics would be more affected than the rest of us.
Okay…so what does that word ‘sensitive’ mean?
That means that we all get out our charts and take a look! (And if you don’t have your chart, use one of the ‘free chart links’ in the sidebar and print it out! Go on…we’ll wait for you!)
The standard astrological orb-al gig here gives a five degree orb for all of the so-called “hard” aspects: the squares (Cancer or Capricorn) and the conjunction or opposition, which here are something of the same thing seeing as Aries is opposite Libra and Libra is the opposition sign to Aries.
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So this moment is most functional in anyone who has a planetary point, node or horizontal (or) vertical axis defined by anything between 9 and 19 Cancer, Capricorn, Libra or Aries…the question is all about what you will do, how well you do it and how well you have taken into account who you're doing it for.
(Hint: if you say "me!" you get no points! To get applause from the audience, you must play to the audience...!)
Those of you who have points at between 9 and 19 Leo and/or Sagittarius are in positioned to have this moment represent a trine – things playing out whether you’re working on them or not.
Those with points between 11 and 17 Aquarius or Gemini are being offered an opportunity to do something about something. (Sorry, sextiles only get a 3-degree orb.)
Really in the squishy are those with points between either 12 and 16 Scorpio and Virgo (and/or) 12 and 16 Pisces (and/or) Taurus. You’re allowed at least one major groan today and five minutes of out-and-out complaint about how unfair life is to some friend.
(Tell them I said so – that’ll make me popular…not!)
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The Saturn retrograde in Libra part of this is about who we are to others. You may be thinking about who they are to you, but Saturn in Libra is highly (if not totally) a causal/effective measure of what you give, so you determine what you get. And where I don’t like what I’m getting, for instance, that says I’m not giving the right thing. Or I’m not aiming it to the right audience. Or I’m not packaging it in the right way. Or I’m maybe just not the right person to be doing what I’m doing.
Sometimes that simply is the problem. If you’ve ever seen a movie or show where you come away shaking your head wondering who thought it was a good idea to have that actor play that part…you’ve got the idea. Someone could be just a perfectly splendid actor but just wrong for the part – say, Boris Karloff as Mary Poppins.
There is some measure of simply ‘getting it’ and accepting what the truth is which pervades the air, the world and our thoughts at the moment.
What you do about it…? That’s up to you. But certainly with Jupiter in Aries, the idea…and in some places the issue is ‘growth.’ And maybe overgrowth. Or potential for growing and getting out of hand. Or growing where you have no intention on going.
Jupiter/Saturn have a 19.86 year-long ‘synodic’ cycle, meaning from the point where they’re conjunct to where they reconnect again.
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The last conjunction was in the year 2000 at 22 Taurus. That having been a clear conjunction, this makes the 19.86 years which follow May 2000 a challenge to make something of one’s self for those with chart positions between 17 and 27 Taurus, a challenge to be more effective, fair and constructive for those with chart positions between 17 and 27 Scorpios (meaning you will lose out if/where you aren’t), a need to build on opportunities (making things work better for you) for those with chart positions between 17 and 27 Virgo and to use opportunities which arise to improve your approach or broaden your appeal/effectiveness for those with placements between 17 and 27 Capricorn…
This synodic conjunction would have represented a long-term challenge to develop/utilize self worth for those with positions not only for the Taurus group (above) but for those with positions between 20 and 24 Aries and/or Gemini, recognizing you’re going to take a few ego hits along the way. Getting past your ego expectations is the issue…as it sort of is also for those with chart placements between 17 and 27 Leo, except this Leo group is specifically trying to ‘found’ or ‘form’ something on which they can build going forward.
Understanding the ‘ground rules’ is vital for this Leo group, especially since they will be prone to think in terms of how things ‘should’ work instead of how they actually ‘do’ work.
A similar challenge would have been issued to those with placements between 20 and 24 Libra or Sagittarius. On the Sagittarian side the struggle would be to not just comprehend but find ways to integrate the emotional priorities of others.
On the Libra side (hence this discussion) we would expect a time when dysfunctional values or ‘dysfunctions’ or ‘dysfunctionality’ requires that changes be made so that the terms ‘worth’ and ‘value’ (or worthiness and valuation) come more into line.
The last note to the original synodic conjunction tells us that applies personally to those with planetary points between 17 to 27 Aquarius, which in recalling the Libra ‘airy’ theme of ‘worth and valuation’ really asks what’s reasonable, moral and ethical. In other words, there’s what you can do…then again, there’s what you should do.
This whole synodic cycle (between 2000 and – roughly - the dawn of 2020) are all about balancing what works with what’s reasonable on a human, moral and/or ethical scale. It’s also about balancing today against tomorrow against a hundred years ago against a hundred years from now. And the native Aquarian/Leo square to this cycle at a 3rd decan degree (i.e., any degree between 20 and 29 of any sign) tells us…well, this may “ouch!” a lot but….it tells us that the whole of this Saturn/Jupiter zodiac rondo involves partings of ‘have’ and ‘have not’ at both basic and grandiose levels.
And when such partings happen – and they happen in many parts of our lives and at many different levels through many means - the ‘have’ side is always highly resistant to feeling the human ‘cost’ they not only extract on others, but from the system and the world which in reality, supports their ‘having.’
Or at least supports it until they break it.
That all this happens as Mercury enters the 2-day window prior to going retrograde really does tell us that we’re extra-super conscious of time a’wasting and opportunities wasted. People will make big decisions now…or realize they need to be made.
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A really unusual photograph...Jupiter's south pole
photo source: NASA/JPL
Astrological lore suggest that the days leading into a Mercury station/retrograde often feel a bit rushed – or filled with pressure. Which means you may feel like you gotta do whatever it is RIGHT NOW or the world may end, all may be lost, you could fall off the end of the Earth.
Uh, no. Probably not.
The instructions which come with Mercury retrograde (yes, I read the label) says if things come to happen now without forcing, fine. But DON’T PUSH! That means no rushing, no shoving, no cutting off your own nose to spite your face.
Events which happen naturally during these next couple of days (whether that means they happen of ‘their own accord’) or because they’ve been long-planned…these are likely to be moments of importance or long-term effect.
For the rest of us – it’s a time for recapping and thinking about how we may just need to revamp a few things to actually get where we want to go.
Fortunately for us, Mercury retrograde is a perfect time to do just that…so finish up what you’re doing, then mosey on into your very most comfy mode and go at it!
