Juno Stations at 19 Aquarius

White Doves at the Blue Mosque

(photo credit: Peretz Partensky, March 2011)

As of a few days ago we all were thinking on what we had to do. Now as MakeMake is going direct and we collect ourselves to do whatever it is which is in front of us, Juno goes on station – in Aquarius – and about to go retrograde.

Life isn’t ever simple, is it?

Well, in this case the message doesn’t seem to be all bad. Representing the ability to ‘manage our resources’ whether that refers to our temper, our time, the contents of our bank account or our ability to think things through, Juno is the emblem of how we protect what which we think of as either ‘precious’ to us or important to the continuity of life as we know it.

With Orpheus and Medusa crossing Scheat and entering Aries as Juno goes on station, it is to be expected that all the ideas jolly-trotted through in my last post now test our ability to batten down our whatever hatches in order to get through the weeks ahead. After all, looking at an ephemeris there’s Jupiter…heading for its climactic moments in Gemini.

Jupiter? Gemini? Surely that could be something being blown out of proportion? And as we noted a couple of days ago, Mercury’s just entered it’s pre-retrograde shadow….and we know that the week-to-ten days which leads into a Mercury station tend to feel pressure-ful, even if there’s no real reason to get bent out of shape!

Considering that, maybe it’s neither surprising nor negative to have Juno going retrograde as of 6:41 in the morning on June 15th (UT/+0). After all, isn’t Juno going into retrograde the metaphysical way of saying we will be all ready on the inside? That we will know that it’s time to take on those things which we know have to be done, as complicated and frazzling as they might be?

That’s my theory and I’m sticking with it. Of course, something may come along and smack me up the side of my head like a wet fish, but I’ll weather that too. I’m drip dry – I can make it!

Still, there is that ‘station notion’…the idea that during the days ahead (call it June 13th through 17th or or less) there will be a need to grab my personal tiller and steer my way through water which otherwise may slosh me right off course.

Something of that sort may happen in your life, too. After all, Juno isn’t doing this all by its astrological self out there. It’s conjunct Sualocin, so there’s something which tempts us…will we broach our personal boundaries?

Going into its station/retrograde, Juno is also conjunct Vaticana. In fact, Vaticana is conjunct Sualocin, which on one hand suggests a temptation to stand still. Or to centralize our power (or throw our lot in with some sort of already ‘centralized’ power). And with Damocles lurking out there ahead of Juno at 23 Aquarius, maybe we’re trying to be smart about what we’re willing to risk…or not risk.

The Sabian Symbol for 19 Aquarius reads ‘A large white dove bearing a message’…but does this mean the ‘answer to our prayers’ is there for the listening to? Maybe. But then again, the idea of a ‘message’ doesn’t always mean an answer – it could be some sort of ‘message’ which interferes with what we’re doing or had thought to do which we have to work through.

That Juno goes on station as MakeMake goes direct calls us to keep our priorities in mind. In the world of astronomical hierarchy, Juno is closer to us – so that may well translate into something which becomes ‘first and foremost’ in our thinking.

 An orbital diagram generated by JPL showing Juno's position at June 15, 2013 

On the other hand, Juno is an asteroid, where MakeMake is being considered for dwarf planet status. Until that’s confirmed (or not confirmed) it’s hard to know what to think of a TNO like MakeMake in any finite or metaphysical sense, but all TNOs are about introducing ideas and events which were beyond our thinking (or expectation) prior to the moment that they show up, so maybe the answer to this is to learn how to manage life as to take advantage of whatever the ‘new’ is which is ‘arising’ or ‘coming to be’ in life. You know the MakeMake thing.

Looking ahead a breath or two, I can also tell you as ye olde online astrologer that this isn’t the end of this particular ‘the times they are evolving’ sort of moment. This is an ultra-busy month for shifts and events, particularly those which spur us into a new mode of activity or lifestyle or building for the future. With Juno going retrograde in a degree (19 Aquarius) which is known to challenge us to find answers to tough questions just as solidity or viability or even security and safety seems to be slipping away, the ‘message’ here may be that we need to do the best that we can and allow ourselves to reach out to others when daunted, confused or otherwise in need.

It just may be that someone else…or something someone else knows is the perfect resource to draw on. If that’s true, then the ultimate ‘message’ which brings peace to our hearts is knowing that we don’t have to know everything or do everything ourselves…sometimes the right person with the right mindset or knowledge can give us some sort of ultimate ‘treasure’ in but a few words. That would fit with the idea that Juno is going retrograde in Aquarius, a sign which functions in the realm of theory, not things.

So we should probably just hold on to the good idea, even when things aren’t exactly good. Wishes aren’t solutions, but optimism helps sustain us while we get to work and work through whatever challenges are involved in investing ourselves in a fully vested and well integrated future.
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MakeMake, Medusa, Orpheus: Making the Best of Things

Marie Louise Island in the outer Seychelles

(photo by ACP)

Once I was past the mandatory high school reading of Homer (the Iliad and Odyssey was something of a literary war for me) and Margaret Hamilton’s Mythology, Greek myths (and myths in general) didn’t mean much until I started reading psychology and family dynamics books in my somewhat late 20s.

About then it dawned on me that myths are not just fun stories, they’re about the nature of our world and human nature in particular.

So I started reading mythology again. Some people like international cuisine. I evidently get great nourishment from reading Myths From Around the World. Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse, Celtic, Indian, Japanese…I read it all. And seeing as this was about the time I got into working in the movie industry as a production accountant, I’m guessing it was a very good accompaniment to the main dish of money spending. After all, life on the road with anywhere between a hundred and three hundred (plus) crew members can be a fairly raw and woolly experience. But where better to see the in’s and out’s of human nature?

Far from being the glitzy thing so many think film work is, production is a bit like civil war – in a not-always-polite, if not strictly bloodthirsty civil sense.

Though yes, there are a few moments of awfulness. When you’re in the film industry or working locations you hear of them. Everybody grimaces and keeps working. (Yes, even if you were the target of the incident, you keep working.)

The myth which has probably impressed me the most through the years is that one which I think intersects our Moments Most Dire and those when we grapple with how we feel about life. That myth is the one of the gorgon Medusa - a myth which is entirely different than the story most of us know.

- link to -

Medusa: Through Our

Mental Mirror, Darkly

Don’t kid yourself: we all have a little bit of Medusa in our chart. In fact, exactly where you’re prone to resisting that idea is like as not connected to where your Medusa lives – in its own little cave of your personal psyche.

The thing to remember here is that Medusa is not about how we appear to others. Medusa is not about being afraid of what others know. It’s about what we’re afraid to know about ourselves.

As of June 12th, the stakes get raised in this ‘knowing about ourselves’ department by Medusa moving into Aries. Which means (to state the obvious) that on June 11th, Medusa will be crossing through that last and final degree of the rondo we call the zodiac, 29 Pisces.

And that’s where Scheat is.

If you’ve been around the astroPPM blog for a while, you probably know I tend to refer to Scheat as the fixed star we all love to hate. But that’s part and parcel of the “Scheat gig” as Scheat represents how (or where) we tend to reject others – or in having rejected them, tend to get rejected by them.

So when Medusa conjuncts Scheat, that suggests a lot of uneasiness (or out and out fear) with regards to what we might have missed out on. Or what others may not like about us, or what we believe.

As a degree, 29 Pisces has two distinct sides. (How Piscean, don’t you think?) The first is about intuitive or what we tend to call ‘psychic’ abilities. Those abilities come from our ability to be less ‘defined’ by our ego drives erecting ‘walls’ which define or separate” us from everything (and everyone) else. The aim of this ego-instinct is to know who the “I Am” of our life is, which is obviously at some level a good and necessary thing. But too much of that doesn’t allow us to be ‘one’ with the rest of Existence. The intuitive, the sensitive, the artist, the guru, the medium, the shaman - those who are live some portion of life without fully fortified ‘ego walls’ see – and are exposed to - what comes in from Beyond. And be that beyond the spiritual realm, the intuitive realm…or the compassion and empathy which allows us to feel for one another, that’s a whole plus-and-minus balance unto itself. Some are inspired by what they learn. Some are overwhelmed by it.

The other side of 29 Pisces is also about our ability to feel and sense or not, but this one has to do with our interactions with others. This is the area Scheat seems to be more active in, though there’s something to be said for Scheat’s having moved into 29 Pisces back in 1973 and the upsurge of interest in everything from parapsychology (ghosts and spirits) to holistic healing – the totality of energy of which we are all part – which began increasing around that time.

For the record, Scheat will be at 29 Pisces until 2044, so we’re only about half way through this ‘evolution,’ if that’s what you want to call it.

But to my point, Medusa passing over Scheat (otherwise known as conjuncting Scheat) is likely to create situations which excite or exacerbate everyone’s various insecurities and fears during the early part of this June, 2013 week.

Tête de Méduse (Head of Medusa) by Puget

(photo credit Jospe, July 2011)

And Medusa’s not alone. As Medusa reaches 29 Pisces, so does Orpheus, the guy everybody seems to think of as the ‘other half’ of Eurydike. Orpheus is an amazingly talented person. But he seems to suffer from that ‘with great power goes great responsibility’ issue which gets us all in various moments in our lives. In the care of Orpheus, he ends up losing the love of the person most dear to him – Eurydike – because he doesn’t have enough faith (faith being a Pisces thing) in the thing he has been told to do thusly…to not question a process which whether he likes it or not, he’s not in charge of.

Orpheus is used to being able to use charm and talent to get what he wants. And because he’s never learned any other way of handling life, in the end he loses that person, that love, that feeling of being loved which is most dear to him.

Orpheus and Eurydice by Michel Martin Drolling (1820)

And now Orpheus is conjuncting Scheat in Medusa’s company…ALL of which is happening as MakeMake goes direct at 27 Virgo.

Currently classed as a TNO (Trans Neptunian Object), MakeMake is being considered for dwarf planet status – which tells us that it’s not just a pebble out there in space. Should we take MakeMake as seriously as we all take Pluto? Maybe, maybe not, though certainly if it qualifies as a dwarf planet, that response will flip over resoundingly into “should.”

But will we? Probably not. And why would that be? That would be because MakeMake isn’t one of the more-than-several objects the orbits of which are controlled by Neptune. Known as ‘Plutinos,’ the list of such Neptune-controlled objects includes Ixion, Orcus, Huya, Pluto and a handful of objects which to date are only known by numerical assignments.

And this should tell us that it’s really that mysterious Neptune quality of ‘knowing/not knowing’ or being ‘controlled/out of control’ which creates the incredible, often blinding energetic we associate with Plutinos.

Put simply, that energy gets our carnal motors running. And MakeMake isn’t a Plutino. Classed in the TNO (subset) Cubewano category, like fellow Cubewano Deucalion (surviving life’s disasters and finding our way), MakeMake as the soul of creating, the ability to rise from the depths and to build something which becomes it’s own ‘island’ of reality and personal salvation and reliability in your life should be enthralling.

But it’s not. MakeMake just doesn’t stir that astro-emotional Neptunian fascination and thus all the hot-shot press.

An orbital diagram of MakeMake at June 15, 2013 as generated by JPL

As for 27 Virgo (the degree MakeMake is going direct at), this is a degree which stresses the most functional side of our mentalities.

So then we add in MakeMake. And when we add in MakeMake, it would appear that these mid-June days of MakeMake going station/direct are a test of our own resolve. Or our questioning of ourselves as to our motives and whether we’ve thought everything through before moving ‘building’ on what we’ve already done or accomplished. Given that stations get (at least) a 2-day allowance before and after, that means that this station begins on June 10th (maybe even June 9th, particularly given time zone considerations) and ends on June 14/15.

And since the ‘going into’ this moment is colored by Orpheus and Medusa passing over 29 Pisces and Scheat…and the ‘coming out’ of this station has Medusa and Orpheus both reaching 0 Aries, this is definitely about our Self.

So who do you need to be in order to be successful in your own life - or a success in this life? What do you need to do or how do you need to do it in order to be both aware of owning/using your own talents and truths and doing not just what is easy but hard for you to do regardless of what others think?

That this is happening as Mercury has just moved into the shadow of its upcoming retrograde says that these questions are probably not general. There is something ‘on the table’ which needs to be ‘built up’ so that you have something to ‘stand on’ that you yourself have created. It could be large, or this could be small.

What’s important is that it’s yours – and that it represents your abilities, probably inclusive of the costs involved.
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MakeMake Station/Direct: Purpose Positive?

 Dwarf Planet MakeMake as photographed by the Hubble Telescope

photo credit: NASA/Caltech-JPL

Dwarf Planet MakeMake goes direct at 4:40 in the morning (UT/+0) on June 10th.

Let’s start there. Metaphysically, what is a dwarf planet? Considering that planets represent universal human attributes and asteroids and such are moments and situations, aspects/factors of or in our lives which we meet up with and are inspired by or need to deal with, dwarf planets are something of a curious ‘hybrid,’ if you will.

One of the interesting qualifiers which differentiates a dwarf from real planet may give us a big clue as to meaning here too. Given how astrophysics (and plain old regular physics) work, if you’re a big enough object, apparently orbital-versus-revolution dynamics will cause you to pretty much ‘spin into a ball.’

Or at least something close. This is one of the big reasons (so I gather) that Pluto got demoted. At not even a quarter the size of Planet Earth, Pluto just doesn’t have the mass to put a ‘spin’ on things – which may be why we think of Pluto as ‘emotional transformation.’ Pluto is where the ‘spin stops’ and the dream hits reality. Either we win or we lose and from that comes the delight or deep heartache we associate with Plutonic emotional transformation.

Okay…so if MakeMake is also a dwarf planet, it too holds that capacity to represent something about where the proverbial rubber meets the road.

Again borrowing from what we know about Pluto, Pluto being the ‘king’ of the underworld points us to that ‘reigning’ quality which ‘rules’ just under our skin. And that would be emotion.

This is an interesting concept to translate as we move back to MakeMake as MakeMake is the creator god who in myth is ‘responsible’ for Easter Island.

Easter Island is out in the middle of the ocean. And ocean (water in general, actually) is always a metaphysical metaphor for emotion.

So what is created out of emotion?

One more thing to consider here is what happened to Easter Island. Its people were became victims of their own inability to safeguard their resources, which by any estimation is an example of desire outstripping wisdom.

Is MakeMake thus the creating of the ‘island’ in our life? Or the ruination of same?

Considering that MakeMake is going direct now at 25 Virgo with Virgo being a sign not only of jobs and civil service and details and practicality but health… this may be a turning point in many of our lives.

Are you someone whose chart is within orb of June 1st’s solar eclipse at 11 Gemini and/or July 1st’s solar eclipse at 9 Cancer? Maybe both?

The more “dynamic” the images of change are right now in your life, the more likely it would seem that MakeMake going direct at 25 Virgo will signal ‘news’ (information, etc.) regarding a change of circumstance. It could be good…it could be challenging.

And then again, it could be both. Especially if you’re being affected by either (or both) solar eclipses its worth remembering that what you’re going through now is “setting the stage” for realizations and realities which will solidify some 36 months from now.

Discovered in 2005 by the handy, dandy team of David Rabinowitz, Craig Trujillo and Mike Brown, MakeMake has an orbital period of 309.88 years – so it’s hardly gone anywhere since it was discovered. But since in astrology all counts, it’s worth noting that when discovered, MakeMake was conjunct none other than Sisyphus, a smart guy from a very good family who had all the advantages and a very clear choice between using what he had for the benefit of others or simply doing as he pleased.

His choice? To invite people into his house under the guise of hospitality and thereafter murder them.

Link to...

ARTICLE on SISYPHUS, TYPHON & DAMOCLES

When discovered, MakeMake was also in direct opposition to Eos (instinct), Pandora (a box of ills), Juno (leadership dependent on self discipline), Chaldea (the old and known), Sphinx (enduring patience) and Scheherazade, the slave who became queen through entertaining her sultan with stories of worth without once treading on his ego. Or insisting on the value of her own.

This all sounds very much like parts of the same tale. And when we add in the idea that MakeMake, unlike Pluto is a Cubewano (meaning its orbit is not controlled by Neptune or any other planet)…that stresses the integral quality of individuality involved here.

And isn’t integrity one of the big keywords for the 11 Gemini solar eclipse just passed? By Jove…not to bring Jupiter into this, but yes, it is!

As MakeMake goes direct, it’s doing so at 25 Virgo, a degree which is known for a ‘mesmerizing’ or even ‘hypnotic’ effect. Is this something you will feel? Which you will wield? Which you will utilize to get something of worth going/on track in your life?

Considering this station occurs in square to the lunar nodes with Ceres in opposition at 25 Pisces, there would seem to be something of a crisis of direction or leadership. All bases must be covered in order to get anywhere at the moment and with MakeMake flanked by Nemesis and Typhon there are some elemental (Typhon) energies being appealed to (or exacerbated) and more than a flavor of ‘be warned!’ or ‘I told you so’ in the mix.

 MakeMake's station/direct: June 10, 2011 at 4:40 am (UT/+0)

Aries Wheel/Location Not Specific

(Grand Cross indicated in black)

This four point ‘grand square’ definitely poses a question of where the world is going…or where you want to go in the world. If this is a moment when you are working to bring something into being, its evidently important to pay attention to how ‘appealing’ it is to others. Will it get them where they instinctively (Typhon) live? Are you giving them some sort of reason (Nemesis) to take your part lest they lose out? And are you minding all the p’s and q’s and valid critiques (Nemesis) you may have gotten up until now?

Are you being realistic about your ability to do what you say you (Ceres) want to do? And considering Ceres is at 25 Pisces and therefore within range (and heading towards) nobody’s favorite fixed star Scheat, are you willing to weather choppy water on your way to proving your value, worth and point?

There are several indicators of ‘4’ in this chart…which metaphysically can be 4 days, 4 weeks, 4 months and/or 4 years. Since we’re talking about a celestial object taking station, generally the indication is day-week-month. But one never knows. And since four days from now will be one day after Saturn goes direct…

…just sayin’! Be prepared to flex a little and deal with a little unwanted material hitting a fan somewhere in life where you least suspect it over this next while.

This is a double-solar eclipse season, after all. What would you expect?

With Venus having just entered Gemini, there are choices to be made and priorities to be considered. And when we think…well, how much faith do you have in your own ability to bring what you really want into being and the value of doing so?

That would seem to be the question now. So to all, may your pondering bring you only worthwhile answers!

Dateblog: The Week Ahead (June 5-June11)

 Michael E. Brown, Astronomer

photo credit: NASA

Today (June 5th) is Mike Brown’s birthday. Don’t know who Mike Brown is? Well, more formally known as Michael E. Brown, professor of planetary astronomy at the illustrious CalTech, Mike Brown is one of the great (and friendly) planet hunters around.

And he has nothing against astrology. In fact, if you read through his blog (Mike Brown’s Planets) you’ll find that he likes the detailed thought and work astrologers (of any repute, that is) put into their studies. If you want to know ABOUT a planet, you go to Mike Brown. If you want to know the metaphysics of a planet, you ask an astrologer – like me.

LINK to MIKE BROWN'S PLANETS

That’s his take on things. We've even had a digital chat on the subject - I thought it rather fun.

LINK to Blog on ASTRONOMY versus ASTROLOGY

Anyway…today is Mike’s birthday and I for one, cheer. Without Mike Brown we wouldn’t know about all sorts of great points like Haumea, Huya and Makemake. We wouldn’t know that Orcus has a moon. We wouldn’t kwon all sorts of neat stuff.

So happy birthday to Mike.

Having said that, considering his birthday is only 4 days after a solar eclipse, we can expect to hear that Mike Brown’s life is changing in some fundamental manner. And no….Mike, if you happen to read this, I’m not trying to make you some sort of lab rat wearing one of those fabulous NASA helmets.

Okay…so I would be entirely happy if half the people who read this blog would email you a ‘hey, Mike, happy birthday!’ missive through your blog (my gift to you, guy…) but that’s not really my point.

My point is that sometimes knowing that someone famous is born around the time of an eclipse helps us understand how eclipses (and astrology) work.

Considering that Clint Eastwood and Brooke Shields both have birthdays on May 31st…and that Rudi Giuliani has a birthday on May 28…even that the Dali Lama has a birthday on June 6 and Muammar al-Gaddafi (choose your own spelling there) has a birthday on June 7th… don’t be surprised if you hear of big ‘life shifts’ happening in any and all of these individual lives.

How they change? Ah, that’s the ‘individual chart’ thing. But the dynamic evolution OF life which is so typical of a solar eclipse, that will be a constant.

Interestingly enough, eclipses work whether you’re dead or alive. So whether you’re a ‘life after death’ person or not, apparently the ‘mark’ we make with having lived lives on even after we’re gone. So with Mike Brown, Clint Eastwood and Brooke Shields we can add people like Marilyn Monroe (June 1), actor Peter Lorre (June 6), Armand Hammer (May 28), Pancho Villa (June 5), James Dean (June 5), John F. Kennedy (May 29), Isadora Duncan (May 27), Allen Ginsberg (June 3) and Thomas Hardy (June 2) to our list. Often times when say, a writer has been dead a long time, something they wrote will become suddenly popular again for some reason when their Sun gets eclipsed. A biography may be released on the life of someone like Isadora Duncan or Armand Hammer or JFK. Or maybe someone will build a monument to them or name a philanthropic prize after them…you get the gist.

 Dancer Isadora Duncan as photographed

by Arnold Genthe (photo housed in the US LIbrary of Congress)

We may only life and die…that may be your belief. But time and time again I have seen not just eclipses but major transits (such as those made by Uranus, Neptune or Pluto) hit charts and signal a renewed interest in someone’s life or work.

With last week’s astrological events having been something of a stunning line-up (the solar eclipse followed by Neptune’s station followed by Jupiter changing signs), especially with Sun and and Mercury in Gemini our thoughts are busy even if we aren’t.

With Venus and Mars in the latter part of Taurus as the week starts out there’s a big emphasis on wanting things to ‘count’ and to be worth the effort. Appreciation is likely to be another theme, whether that’s voiced as ‘hey – appreciate what I’ve done for you, okay?’ or the more eloquent ‘we should honor the efforts of those who have made sacrifices on our behalf…’ And either is apt. Venus in Taurus is gracious, Mars in Taurus tends to see the glass as half-full, no matter whose glass that is.

As Jupiter in Taurus sinks in against Neptune having gone retrograde in earliest Pisces (and now headed back into Aquarius) there’s a sense of awareness…maybe concern…about how we will make our way in the world. Or what we need to do to be more effective. Or if we can do what we think we need to do. Combining that with the Venus, Mars and Sun-Mercury, those who are realistic about what can or can’t get done would seem to be the best off.

At least they know what to concentrate on first, right?

About the worst thing we can do is expect others to cover our gaps, debts and faux pas now…though you may get help, those who expect to be helped are likely to feel the most disappointment. Entitlement is a buzz-word in some circles and a quality which gets others short-changed. Mercury-Neptune are just finishing off their square-by-aspect as the week begins and that means that lies…told to us, told by us or that we’ve tried to put over on ourselves...are coming clear, or coming to an end of their allegedly useful life.

With Saturn due to go direct next week, the whole of this week is likely to feel ‘pressured’ for some, ‘problematic’ (aka challenging) for others and for a few, downright depressing. Reality is in our face. Time and necessity and all those very Saturn realities are making themselves known.

So with this as the basis of the week’s ‘astro-operational parameters,’ that takes us to…

TUESDAY, JUNE 7…The big highlight of the day is  Hebe moving into Cancer. Hebe being the immortal ‘cup bearer’ to the Olympian gods, the basic idea associated with this point is two-fold: one being about service and the other provision in the sense of making sure those things which are wanted or needed are on hand, perhaps with something of an emphasis on sustenance.

That Hebe is moving into Cancer suggests the ‘venue’ of this service or needing to provide or take care of things is pretty basic: family, home…in keeping with one’s culture and national traditions.

Asteroids don’t generally confront us with matters of import all by themselves…they’re the ‘hint of flavoring’ to all else which goes on now. So with Mars, Jupiter and Venus all in Taurus, how we live and providing ourselves with security in regards to our livelihoods, our families, our homes and such, there’s a planetary (conscious focus) on such matters which Hebe entering Cancer would seem to compliment. Perhaps it means we need to think of others who need things too? Perhaps Hebe during the weeks that Hebe is in Cancer you life will prompt you with a need (or inspiration) which tells you what you need to do in order to get ahead in the world (which would be very Saturn in Libra) and that involves showing someone how useful you are. Or what your abilities really are.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8…with Cubewano (and dwarf planet candidate) MakeMake about to go direct early on the 10th, its station effects begin now, suggesting it’s a good time to move ahead whatever projects we have slated. As ‘creator’ god of Easter Island, MakeMake can be seen as a symbol of ‘raising something up out of the depths’ or of creating something in isolation or all by yourself, this last part going very much with Saturn’s position at 10 Libra.

MakeMake the astronomical object as photographed by

the Hubble Telescope (photo credit: NASA/JPL)... 

 ...and MakeMake the Easter Island creator god as a glyph

carved in stone on Easter Island

There is a thread of this ‘be your own person’ thing going around…have you noticed?

And just because I want to, I’ll also note that Mike Brown was one of the three discoverers of MakeMake - the others being Craig Trujillo and David Rabinowitz. So isn’t it nice that one of his ‘very own’ KBOs is doing a little turnaround dance for him during the week of his birthday?

Prosaic, yes. And when we put this all together…maybe the devoted dad Mike Brown will be expanding his family this year? Who knows…but just to show you how astrological thinking goes, that wouldn’t seem to be out of the question, considering all things!

THURSDAY, JUNE 9…an interesting day which starts with Jupiter in Taurus perfecting a sextile to Neptune retrograde in Pisces at 2:42am (UT/+0) – which yet again speaks to something of increasing (Jupiter) value (Taurus) which either clarifies or stirs up that nebulous Neptune ‘wish list’ we all have inside. It’s a moment when we can be realistic and we can profit from doing so. But we may not want to.

Like as not, a little fantasy is okay – but we will do well not to get lost in same. Remember, Saturn is bearing down on its station/direct point: reality must be served!

A bit later – at 2:42pm (UT/+0) Venus enters Gemini, meaning that as Jupiter perfected its sextile Venus was at 29 Taurus: a critical moment which can point out the chinks in our armor as well as the blessings in our life. It’s a real ‘glass half full or half empty?’ moment.

 Te aa no areois (The Seed of the Areoi) by Paul Gauguin (1892)

As a planetary ingress, Venus entering Gemini will earn its own blog post, but when tossed in with all the other doings of the week it would seem to be a warning to choose knowingly. There’s a time for play and an extent to which we know we can play. There are also times when the priority needs to be work. Knowing the difference and what our goals and limitations are (and yes, sticking to them!) seems the object d’moment.

However! With Kassandra about to go retrograde in Aquarius, we may not want to see the clouds which go with those silver linings. Or that the proverbial cloud tends to come with one. Which way you go here is probably described by your general mental attitude. Are you someone who refuses to hear anything which darkens your day? Are you someone who doesn’t believe anything good will ever happen?

Remembering that Mars and Jupiter are still in Taurus, with Venus now in Gemini we want…but can we have? We know the truth of this is about what we’re willing to strive for and earn (or whether we have) and that for all we want there are limits to what is sensible in life…but we…or someone close to us…may not want to hear that just now.

Thus we come to…

FRIDAY, JUNE 10…with KBO MakeMake going direct at 4:40am (UT/+0). That MakeMake is going direct at 25 Virgo rather challenges us to understand the difference between what we think works and what other people think, given the same situation. For those building or improving something or some part of their life (or learning/trying to figure out how to), this would be a moment when your abilities and practicalities meet up with those of others around you. The combination of Virgo and that we’re talking about a point which is between 20 and 29 degrees of some sign (a 3rd decanate point) means that we are not – as individuals – in the initiating position, though we need to be self-motivated in getting things done.

Showing your capabilities today? A positive. Insisting on having your own way? Maybe not so good. When you need to at some point or any point deal with others, you really have to take the audience into account. It’s sometimes annoying, but true!

And thus we arrive at…

SATURDAY, JUNE 11, a day when Kassandra goes retrograde at 18 Aquarius early in the UT/+0 morning (at 6:27am, to be exact) and when Saturn’s station effects begin…if they haven’t already, that is!

Saturn’s going on station in Libra (at 10 Libra) is all about our ability to function as individual human beings. There are a lot of parameters to this, but that’s the basic gist of the thing. It’s a real ‘get hold of yourself!’ kind of moment which Kassandra can help or hinder.

 Ajax and Cassandra (aka astronomy and astrology's Kassandra)

by Solomon Joseph Solomon

Going retrograde in an emotional degree of a public, social, worldly sign, Kassandra’s going retrograde signals our being prompted to pay attention – which is exactly what some of us don’t want to do.

Another part of this would be the necessity to sort the real from the inflammatory…the fact from fable, fiction, pipe dream or fear-mongering drama.

Again, we may not want to.

But apparently we need to. It’s wonderful to work on ourselves and hopefully we’re all using our time to better our personal world with an eye to building a better future for everyone and thus, those we love. In this, the trick would seem to be remaining aware of what’s going on and what ‘the trends’ are without being deluded by hyperbole or drawn astray by our own desire to hear only what we want to hear.

Plus there is that need to maintain an awareness that what is today may be different tomorrow. Time marches on…things change.

And so do we.