Blogpost May 20-25: Sun in Gemini / Mercury into Shadow

A NASA 'jigsaw puzzle' of the Sun worked

by yours truly for today's blog.

(image credit: NASA)

 

When it comes to putting a jigsaw puzzle together, there are all sorts of ways of approaching the problem. Some people separate all the colors. Others work with just edge pieces and work to ‘frame in’ the rest of the puzzle.

This difference in approach is just like Gemini - as is the fact that wherever we meet up with the zodiac sign Gemini we encounter the ability...and often the need or requirement...to consider more than one thing.

And ‘considering’ is the word to be thinking in terms of here as Gemini is the first of the air signs, and thus all about the process of learning how to think about things...starting with thinking - a construct which leads to the inimitable Gemini habit of getting the idea then thinking about the idea (and exploring what that means as a concept) before moving on to the next thing.

All air signs work in the airy realm of thoughts, plans and choices, which makes Sun in Gemini a month of learning about how to think about things and  experiencing any manner of process, relationship, challenge or option which will get us to consider where we’re going, why we’re going ‘there’ and what that means. At one end of the behavior spectrum here is the studious, intrigued and challenging - and at the other is the careless, carefree or not caring to make the choice to care.

Often represented by fixed stars Castor and Pollux (the famous ‘Gemini twins’) the myth of Gemini has to do with taking two things - often disparate things - and figuring out (1.) how they can live in the same space...or (2.) whether one should be discarded for the other...or possibly (3.) how to find a ‘middle road’ which will either “split the difference,” avoid polarities or fit both ideas into some greater construct.

- link to post on the 2012 Gemini Eclipse,

and fixed stars Castor and Pollux -

Known astrologically as a sign which operates in  a ‘mutable’ (changing, learning as it goes) sort of activity mode, the weeks ahead of Sun Gemini will find us following developments and developing new ideas to follow. All four mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) display this ‘tacking from one point to the next’ or ‘connecting the dots’ sort of activity mode, with Gemini as the airy, conceptual, verbal, thought-or-concept-driven theoretical version of mutable energy being/manifesting as the ‘origin of the idea’ (our mental faculties) as sincerely as it describes our process of thought, learning, priority, organization and choice.

Either end of any Gemini spectrum can be equally productive or unproductive - which brings us back to the jigsaw puzzle as the one place all people, things and situations Gemini seem to trip over is in needing to remember that if the object is to assemble the puzzle, though we may have fun with all our sorting, separating and ‘getting into’ any given ‘piece’ of our ‘puzzle,’ in the end the puzzle needs to get assembled.

It’s sort of like the zodiacal glyph for Gemini...

Gemini is not about ideas or situations in isolation any more than our thoughts exist as something apart from life. It’s all bound together. So we can hold to either polarity or choose a path between - with the much of our particular or personal basket of ‘habits’ coming (in human growth terms, whether we consider this using psychology or astrology) from ages five to seven-and-half, a period during which as children we learn we really exist because at some level we realize we have our own thoughts.

That process involves a natural ‘shedding’ of our early childlike ‘magical’ world ‘as’ or ‘because’ we begin to recognize reality as reality: from the duality we arrive at how we choose to think...

...which yes, in the case of some is how they either don’t ‘choose’ to think through but still adopt (the Gemini duality as a ‘multiple’ and thus one-among-others), or the ‘idea’ of what one must live with (one polarity) which one accepts while having their ‘other’ life - which may be as simple as ‘yes, I have to go to work/school but the REAL me is the person I am at home,’ or any other ‘divide’ between the voluntary versus ‘requirement’ side of life.

Whatever is going on, under Sun in Gemini it brings learning - and how we receive that learning reflects our relationship to learning (which in more astrological terms would be the relationship defined by our natal third house (the sign on the cusp, the ruler of that sign’s condition and any planets posited within the 3rd house)...as well as wherever Gemini falls in the horoscope. The third house is always ‘Gemini-like’ in that it refers to mental-and-mentality sorts of processes where Gemini the sign refers to what we do with or because of our mentality.

So we’re in for a conscious and think-ful sort of month. During Sun in Gemini we should expect or at least not be surprised to have things bring new ideas to light, replete with all the reflecting (or investigating) we might feel compelled to do on such ideas. Yes, the duality of Gemini is likely to promote many a moment of ‘if it wasn’t for Them, I wouldn’t have to take my time doing this’ but the interest which sparks our mental attention isn’t theirs, but ours.

So is our feeling we need to become informed really ‘their fault’? It is if we think our thoughts should drive the whole of this world...but considering our individual incarnation as but one person in a well-populated Existence, while it is easy (and sometimes a Gemini ‘rut’ easily tumbled into) to cling to a known instead of considering an alternative or different perspective, method or ‘ordering’ (arrangement) of goals, ideas, priorities...(etcetera)....whenever we do simply ‘hold’ to one mental position we are automatically defining what there is remains for us to learn.

Why we aren’t learning - or at least open to learning in theory...that’s a whole other very Gemini question. Most often we think it’s because ‘they don’t know.’

More often, we’re afraid to know. There is no compunction under Gemini to do anything other than know, so why we can not or choose not to know isn’t about ‘them’ or what ‘their dictates.’ It’s about the expanse, expansiveness or lack of same within our own Gemini and mercurial realm.

Speaking of which, have you heard that Mercury (ruler of Gemini) is soon to go retrograde?

I’m sorry...I know, it’s a bit much. Or at least it seems like a bit much until you consider the following - a page scanned out of my personal copy of The American Ephemeris for the 21st Century (2001-2050) at Noon:

published by: ACS PUBLICATIONS, San Diego, CA

Note: all times calculated for UT/+0 /(Fair use reproduction only)

Generated though the above may look at first simply like a sea of numbers, those numbers reflect the general ‘tenor’ or tone of things throughout the month of June, starting back with the simplest of all things - astrological decanate theory. You’ve heard it here at the blog so very often: the first ten degrees...degrees 0-9 of any sign (key word: any) manifest through actions and physicality. The second ten degrees (10-19) of any sign manifest as the sign’s connection or embodiment of emotionality (which with air signs is generally expressed by the ‘tone’ of any communication, however it happens). The third ten degrees (degrees 20-29) of any sign manifest either as our experience of/exposure to group/social doings or our response to same....

(...which theoretically would take us back to doing something and the personal experience of life, which is a first decanate matter.)

All of astrology - like all of life - is about cycles, and Gemini is where (among other things) we think about how cycles (plans?) have turned out - and what we’ve learned - or about what new experiences are out there to sample. In the end, what we should focus on (or do) next?

We sometimes try to do it all (hence the Gemini reputation for multi-tasking) but that doesn’t always work. And when we apply all this to the ephemeris page above, what we see is that (reading horizontally) the most ‘social-public-experiential’ part of the month is between May 14th and 20th - or if you stretch it, the 24th, with the most ‘intense’ or focused attentions surfacing from May 7th through the 14th/15th (if that)...plus how all of this is happening under Mercury retrograde.

Mercury rules Gemini, which means ALL of this activity is not about ‘out there’ matters or ‘the world’ or ‘life as a whole’ but rather about our thoughts. Our perspectives. Our ability or willingness to understand ourselves or perhaps be open to conversations with others.

Again, it’s not them, it’s the ‘idea’ which counts under Gemini. Mercury retrograde or not, the Sun passing through Gemini is going to call attention to our mentality, mentality as a whole and the idea of ideas... amalgamated, how they come to be, separately, as something people totally hold to or couldn’t care less about - it’s all up for contemplation.

Some won’t want to and will need to think about things. Some of us won’t need to think so much about things but may end up thinking about why that would be.

It’s just a think-ish sort of time, which is as it should be in theoretical (air sign) terms as Gemini is all about remaining ever curious while also sufficiently self-aware to know our perspective from that of others.

The Mercury retrograde as a specific is a conversation for another day yet to come. But the fact that as Mercury goes on station on June 3rd as Venus rolls over 8 Taurus (the degree of the April solar eclipse) suggests a number of realizations, results, costs, rewards and responses which still coming out of the recent eclipse.

- link to -

APRIL'S 8 TAURUS SOLAR ECLIPSE

Pt. One - The Map and Basics

- link to - 

APRIL'S 8 TAURUS SOLAR ECLIPSE

Pt. Two - Sun in Taurus / Eta Aquarids

- link to -

APRIL'S 8 TAURUS SOLAR ECLIPSE

Pt. Three - Stars and Patterns

Also...with regards to my comments on the Mars Direct post of May 17, if you will look down the Mars column you will see the pace at which Mars is moving through degrees slowing picking up.

Mars generally spends just over 2.5 days in a sign. By June’s end the Mars/Earth perspective will be such that we’ll be close to back to that rate and life will feel commensurately ‘available.’

The culmination of that ‘tale’ happens under Sun in Cancer, which is getting a bit ahead of ourselves here - which is like as not what we may want to do. This “slow” Mars against Mercury (ruler of Gemini) in retrograde with the Sun in Gemini may spell frustration and is highly likely to see some plans and efforts moving forward at a speed worthy of land speed records, musical glissandos and Doppler effects.

It is also likely to leave a bunch of people gaping with that gape representing the ‘mismatch’ of [Mercury] thinking/thought energy and [Mars] output/s, courage, need or aim.

Through what we learn or come to think (and therefore choose) because of what we experience or come to understand we will choose - and for reasons we can’t know going in, some of us will end up being sent back to our (Gemini) mental drawing board somewhere along the way.

Sometimes we need to understand why things don’t work or won’t work any more as well. Learning something new (or learning anew) is mainline Gemini - as is living with that which seemingly remains in conflict...as is compartmentalized thinking.

This year the Sun enters Gemini on May 21st at three o’clock in the morning UT/+0 zone. With Mercury already transiting Gemini and Mars still in Libra, that’s a lot of airy energy which will work wherever we are working through or ‘because of’ an idea. So if you have a list of errands and chores the list is likely to be the thing which is bothering you (“I have to get to that to-do list...”) and if there are multiple steps to some process you’ll be figuring out what has to be done when - and loving or hating that process for your own personal air sign reasons.

In nature, turbulent air is wind. In conversation, turbulent air can be debate, argument or confusion - and speaking of confusion, it’s worth remembering that Neptune will go retrograde on June 9th marking the days of June 6th/7th (depending on where you are) to or through June 11th/12th a time which can be inspirational, enjoyable, confusing, deceptive, restful or filled with boredom, insecurity or exhaustion.

The separating factor between the pluses and minuses of this time are all about ego - and thus whether we can trust, be trusted, or even trust our Self. That Neptune’s station occurs as Mercury’s station is just closing out (with Mercury and Neptune in trine) can be beautiful and romantic and everything you dream of - just don’t count on what happens now as a permanent state and be aware of any desire to cede or surrender personal boundaries without knowing the facts at hand.

Those facts may take time to gather. In the interim, the old rule about ‘risking only what you can afford to lose’ applies. Otherwise, in the famous words of astrologer Robert Hand with regards to all things Neptune, allow yourself not to know.

Yes, you want to glue something down, know something for sure or finalize something. And things may happen which are positive and pleasant, without question. But something is as yet unknown. Unsolved. Maybe even unsuspected...but yet to happen - typically at or after Mercury’s station/direct point (July 1st in this case).

But don’t think that means you should halt everything. Not at all. Though known for misplaced and garbled messages, slow mail, delays in communication, rancid traffic and all those things we do when our brain isn’t quite in sync with our ‘autopilot’ function, Mercury retrograde is very good for getting caught up (speaking of lists) and setting up or creating a mental ‘plan’ which you will then follow once Mercury goes direct.

Meanwhile, life goes on. So as Mercury enters the shadow of its upcoming retrograde (the span of degrees it will retrograde back over) on May 23rd (UT/+0) we may want to take stock of what’s in progress and what isn’t yet fully looked into, decided on, scheduled or otherwise ‘in motion.’ Given that the Sun in Gemini is always an active time even when we choose to ignore all the hustle, bustle and noise, whatever is on the table in our life in terms of that which has been/become prioritized in our thinking, that’s what is probably best allowed to come to its natural conclusion without all the pushing, shouting and mental base-jumping (to conclusions and otherwise).

Moreover, the very (Gemini) idea that Mercury enters its retrograde shadow only a couple of days after the Sun enters Gemini...?

To those who believe (or at least who are willing to explore in true and truly Gemini spirit), in the highly-spiritual (if not precisely religious) metaphysical maxim ‘unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should’ the are no ‘coincidences,’ merely opportunities to learn from. With Mars lingering on in Libra we still have an opportunity to learn a great deal about ourselves through others, and though Mercury/Sun conjunctions such as that we will experience on June 15th/26th tend to be a little myopic and lacking in perspective (read: often a lot myopic and lacking in perspective) this is also a very good time to gain perspective on who we really are in the world, our world - and who we can be going forward.
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Mars Direct (Blogpost: May 19-20)

The atmosphere of Mars as photographed by the Viking Orbiter

(photo credit: NASA 1976)

Congratulations!

No, seriously - congratulations to you (and the rest of us) for making it through a sincerely pretzel-ing series of celestial psycho-pressure points. In arriving at the Mars station (and Mars direct), apart from anything else, for those who have become even a bit more conscious of who we are in light of who we aren’t, bravo. For those who have confronted what it means to be who you are in the moment as well as in the light of your history, our history or history itself... for anyone who willing to see any set of differences merely for what they are, my congratulations.
 
Why? Because this set of months (and retrogrades past) has not been easy on anyone. Our tolerance has run thin at times, especially where things have challenged our ability... or (more likely)... our willingness to factor in anything other than our own convictions, especially as that pertains to who we are.
 
In being driven into the depths of our Self, there we learned more about who we are. People seldom take time for such things nowadays...which may be why life has to do ever more drastic things to get us to stop and think, consider things on a feeling basis or simply breathe, depending we tend to run shortest on.
 
Does that metaphysically mean that our times are more turbulent because it takes more to get us to periodically stop being connected and resume being our Self?
Maybe. It’s a thought - beyond which I tender hearty applause to all of us for merely having weathered the past five months of convolutions - not that we’re quite done yet however, as in the process of May 19th coming upon us our Big Picture [Damocles] challenges still loom large, and though we would like to [Mars] ‘get on with it,’ we also know somewhere deep down inside that haste could make waste...and yes, how we have already done a bit of that, the [Orcus] results of which - good, bad and indifferent - have become apparent.
 
Waste, I mean. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially...somehow we all can remember something. And if we can’t remember, surely about now something (read: Orcus going direct in Virgo) will remind us.
 
Though there may be cost, the real ‘cost’ indicated by Orcus is the lack of opportunity to ‘go back and do it over’ knowing better from the start. And yes, there may be some regret, frustration or internal chiding of the ‘why didn’t I realize that?’ or some such which, considering Orcus and Mars are both going direct within twenty-four hours of each other suggests that something pragmatic having to do with having or making something work [Virgo] must be considered ‘dead’ [Orcus], meaning something else must be taken on or considered as a fact or tact or way of seeing things... just may mean this Mars/Orcus station is about really bringing us to some point where we’re willing to listen or communicate or negotiate something which is tough for us for reasons which are probably entirely personal.
 
For no other reason than because we’re sick and tired of things not going well, we’re becoming a whole lot more about actually getting things done. There’s an aura of [Orcus] consequence brewing which is challenging our misalignments of ego - most of all with/within our Self or soul - to resurface in some sort of humanely pragmatic form. We know that what is happening shouldn’t be happening - and if you’re more than personally observant you’ll probably notice how rather magically each one of us is being confronted with just that little thing which creates just enough vulnerability to bring about relating.
 
Oh yes...we have all been thinking it was about ‘them.’ The holdup or the problem? Ah yes, that was ‘them.’ No matter who we are, some ‘they’ (or that) was doing, not done or not doing something, leaving us with an odd taste in mind about sitting and waiting for some unknown shoe which may just drop. (Or not drop.) And while waiting with unconvinced anticipation we've been doing a lot of figuring...pondering...thinking about things near and far. Some such contemplations have been earnest while others were merely out of interest.

And some...? Some where just our needing some measure of distraction.
 
Yet were we really waiting? And if so, who were we waiting for, and why? What was that based on - or in, given our particular situation? We may know why we’ve been wait...we may even know what we were (hopefully) waiting for. We may even have been dedicated to the proposition of “waiting our turn.”

And then...wonder of wonders...just as we forget about the waiting, something pertaining to matters, shipments, products and concerns which under Mars retrograde (or coming into Mars retrograde) got stalled, backlogged, diverted, ignored, delayed or which went just plain ‘missing’ ...now, just as we reconcile ourselves to the reality of our imperfect world and all the imperfect people and things in that world, just as despite all we form some sort of recognition about the balance of pluses and minuses in our past, present and/or future...

...about then, something begins to shift. Under any circumstance (retrograde or direct, in other words) Mars in Libra has an odd ability to show us up to others so that through those others we learn about our Self (and beyond that, what works and doesn't work as motivated by our inner Self).

And that quality, that is what has brought us to our crossroads, a place where for the duration of the (May 18-22) station during which in a subtle if very real way we will achieve some sort of an understanding which in part lies beyond what others just say or think and beyond mere appearances. In essence we aren't learning about them at all right now, but about who we are in relationship to them (or some situation)...and why that dynamic (the Mars power of the Libra interaction) is what determines much of our success or rejection with others and in much of what we do in daily life.

These realizations may be exotic or they may be simple. Over the next few weeks they will remain with us and begin coloring our choices and abilities to converse, transact, interact and make whatever course corrections are or will be needed in the coming weeks and months - during which .

In other words, it isn’t about them... it’s about us - and yes, that’s what any astrologer would have been telling you all along. It’s what astrologers always say and because the nature of anything in retrograde tends to be inward, the basic facility to connect to and process that very information will be interrupted.

Question: So why don’t astrologers just hush up for the duration and wait for people to emerge from their cocoons to discuss things?

Answer: Because those who learn to recognize the difference between energies in retrograde and energies in direct motion will in time not be subject (or at least be less subject) to those facets of their persona, psyche, personality or inbuilt/knee-jerk reactivity/reactions which may well be less productive natures as time goes along. The difference between productive and problematic retrograde periods is pretty much just about this: the ability to recognize the problem and sort through it either in private, behind the scenes or personally (internally) before proceeding so that everything as a whole functions more effectively.

In theory, those who learn the process of retrograde cycles are still subject to the same ‘slow down’ periods but instead of being or becoming wholly stymied they learn to...(a.) understand the incoming cycle while (b.) watching for slowing forward progress which is the cue to - in keeping with symbol, sign and placement in your personal natal and solar chart - then becomes (c.) a period of less ‘outward’ or at least ‘final/finalized’ activity through which greater understanding and capacity is gained.

All of this could be summed up in the immortal words ‘to everything there is a season, turn, turn, turn...’ but then you wouldn’t think I was giving you your due as the not-so-local local astrologer even if the expression is sincerely true.That we have such a well-known phrase on such a subject, that we think such thoughts, all that - metaphysically - is because we are all connected, all contiguous, all part of each and every other person's life from our electrons to our understandings and on up the line as people.

Which would be why we take our time with each other: because we're people. You may be a very 'big' person and I may be little. Poor or rich, smart or clueless, responsible or otherwise, humans are all - in the end - just people.

It's our very best and worst quality all in one.

Amidst the gardens of Italy's Villa Hadrian (Hadrian's Villa) stands

this statue of god Mars (also known as Ares)

Mars is going direct at 1:32 in the morning (UT/+0) on May 20th. With much still undefined there is an odd combination of feeling stymied, a bit emotionally ‘mired’ (whatever that means in your life)... and yet a little restless, all of which amounts to one of those days-nights-experiences of not knowing quite what to do which leads to dealing mostly with whatever is right in front of us.

There’s nothing wrong with that as long as we are remembering to be aware, though that may lead to some degree of mental overload or [Neptune at 7 Pisces] utter confusion. Try as we may and protest as we might (trust me, some will - loudly) these qualities are unlikely to shift until just over twenty-four more hours passes and the Sun enters Gemini on May 21st at 3:00 p.m. (UT/+0 time).
 
And a note to the born yellers, debaters and confronters in the crowd: Venus is still in Aries. So though the boldly courageous which we are willing to embody may go well, when it comes to anything which smacks even vaguely of ego...well, let's just put it this way: do you really want to be known for what you are likely to be seen as/as doing? Care may be advisable in the short run particularly where we are using any form of “capital,” be that a physical resource or financial capital - even the ‘personal capital’ an established reputation or track record gives us. It isn’t that the action (or transaction) itself is necessarily problematic (it may or may not be, but that’s a different issue), it’s why we are doing or not doing something which can be out-of-kilter with our more “normal” feelings. Under Venus in Aries, even without Mars being in retrograde or on station people tend to think in more ‘first person’ terms than usual - which is a bit torturous to think about particularly as that concerns others, seeing how each party will be considering the other based on this somewhat canted perspective.
 
(See the problem?)

Some of us will be put on notice now for actions or choices already taken. Or when others may find out what you’ve been doing, whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Whatever it takes to get us to see who we are (and aren’t) and what that means in the greater scope (generally greater than we have been thinking), that’s what happens now.
 
These effects DO NOT have to be violent, disruptive or even vaguely obvious. Mars stations often enough simply mark either a flinch-worthy or ‘light bulb’ moment - that thing which inspires and motivates us as we move on. With this Mars station being in Libra we are - and have been mirrors for one another, and for ourselves most particularly over these past months, exacerbating our own concerns in the process.

Metaphysically, our trials have not been about ‘them’: they’ve been about something in them which attracts us. We have been seeking some sort of lesson about ourselves and have (seemingly by magic) attracted anything or anyone we could learn that lesson from... or at least get keyed into learning that lesson by.
 
The tale which led us to or through our experiences began last December on a Venusian ‘how to get the rewards I want out of life’ note... moved through the organizational and mental Mercury (debate) phase throughout February - after which we were all unceremonially sealed into the turbulent confines of our own best stealing-or-steely psycho-emotional embrace.
 
No, it isn’t about them - it’s about us. As if to underscore this (at least astrologically), as I was perusing my ephemeris wondering when the next dose of Mars retrograde challenge (I would use a different word but I’m trying to be optimistic here...) when that sluice gate will burst open.

Answer: April 2016, and next time around Venus retrograde will be miles away in time, seeing as Venus’ closest retrograde escapade will run from late July 2015 through early September of 2015.

But that’s not really what I was looking at which so pertains to present-tense time. What I was checking on was the concept that each successive Mars retrograde falls in the following sign - which would mean the next retrograde would be happening in Scorpio, one of Mars’ two ruling signs.

You remember Scorpio right - from last year’s November eclipse, never mind the relationship we all have to any sort of [Scorpio] subject which asks us to risk our self-worth, sense of (emotional) security, life or personal or public reputation/image?

As much as we all think we adore Scorpio there’s not one of us who doesn’t fear it, and as I say that I’ll bet every Scorpio Sun, Moon and most of the Scorpio Ascendants are murmuring under their confidential breath in agreement...as are (now that I think about it,) all the Taurus Ascendants, since having a Taurus Ascendant means you automatically have a Scorpio Descendant.

And yes, I say that as someone who not only has a Scorpio Moon but who knows a bunch of people with Taurus Ascendants, all of whom may have thought they were going to get off without my mentioning the obvious. 

(No such luck, sorry.)
 
So when it comes to our next Mars retrograde (which I’m evidently done thinking about, never mind slogging through) it starts in Sagittarius and ends in Scorpio...specifically at 23 Scorpio.
 
Does that ring any bells?
 
It should...or if you’re into remembering degrees, it should, as 23 Scorpio is the degree that Saturn as at when it went retrograde on March 2nd, a day after Mars went retrograde this past March.
 
As a concept, that at least subtly links events or developments (the formulating of a goal, the starting of a relationship or something akin to that) which began back around the beginning of March and which have developed through or throughout this Mars retrograde to things which will play out or have a next ‘phase’ start-or-finish point near or just after the end of June, 2016.
 
Speaking of ‘end of June’s, it’s also worth noting that in keeping with the fact Mars will take over a full month to resume its “average” rate of moving through one degree every two days or so, meaning we should think of June as a ‘start’ or a ‘ramping up’ month which in also reflecting Mercury’s going into and being in Gemini retrograde is still highly functional if in a distinctly behind-the-scenes (and/or) ‘in process/not finalized’ mode.

  
Mars entered the shadow of its retrograde back in December, 2013 - just a few days before Venus went retrograde. And though Mars will go direct on May 20, 2014 it doesn’t emerge from the shadow of this wholly Libra retrograde until July 20th.

That means we still have time to build and rebuild - not just in the physical sense, but based in part on all we’ve learned to let go of and what that means we may do...and with a deal of conscious effort, yet become and be with and among others. 
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Dateblog: May 2014

In the wake of April’s solar eclipse, Mars retrograde in Libra continues. It's an indication that though we are busy trying to meet needs or goals immediate and long-term, getting things on track (or finding resources or gaining "traction" in your endeavor) is probably not 'connecting' with others as effectively as we might want, hope or have expected.

And what does that suggest? It suggests questions - lots of questions being asked, especially of ourselves and especially after Venus enters Aries (above, in red).

Yet why would that be? That would be because Venusian energetics, somewhat in keeping with those of Libra (a sign Venus rules and which Mars is in)...Venus is about connection and all that comes from connecting with others and our the world, to which gets added that very 'first person' quality of Aries. Venus is all about results and in the case of Venus in Aries, our best results come from us.

And yes, they may be about us - our feelings about the results we are capable of generating, the results we have generated, or those we are (or aren't) likely to generate as time rolls along.

Much is in flux. But then, with a solar eclipse barely a week behind, that's not surprising - solar eclipses often take a couple of weeks to settle out. And while they're settling out, we tend to be a little...undecided.

Or insecure.

Or puzzled.

Even intrigued.

The point is this: it's all part of a greater process, one which is asking us to see what in us (the Aries 'first person') isn't working or not being all that well received - or maybe just not getting done. (Don't you hate that?)

Remembering that Neptune is sitting at 7 Pisces, this is a period of weeks which ask us to allow ourselves not to know - which isn't always easy, as most of us are going to meet up with this and that which tries our faith in exactly that way which triggers our urge to be sure or to "glue" something down.

It's so very Neptune/Pisces - and once Venus enters Aries many will be tempted to blame things on others whether doing so is even sensible.

It's just that kind of time. The issue is greater than us but we all have personal needs. A lot of people will solve these issues by 'schooling' with a group (again, that Pisces fish thing...) as in various ways we all get to experience and 'take stock' (or estimate the measure of) what it means to be human.

And what that means to us.

With Mars going direct on May 20th, most of May will feel polarized and we can expect some unraveling of patience as well as the adjusting of plans. By the time Mars goes direct the need to get things done (seeing as this station is in Libra) will either prompt us act or react, depending on individual mindsets of that moment.

This Mars station in the end of five (very long) months of life feeling jumbled, pressured, confusing and challenging and it's to be expected that we will be giving up a few things (reluctantly) as we come to the station...and resolving ourselves to move forward on a slightly different tact coming out of the station.

Productivity is likely to seem 'easier' towards the end of May, with new factors being entered 'into the discussion' around May 28th (the date of a Gemini New Moon and end of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower)...which more or less which give us all something to think about - thinking being the prime Gemini modality and 'choice' as the Gemini goal.

One other May item deserves a note here: Mars will enter the degree of its May 20th station (9 Libra) on May 7th - and Mars will remain at 9 Libra through June 1st.

The degree speaks to introspective consideration undertaken in a time when old methods and ideas no longer serve our purpose, and throughout the weeks of Mars at 9 Libra (initially in retrograde and then in direct motion) there will be a lot of contemplating, doing, sharing, conversing, rejecting and negotiating of ideas which have to do with the search of some 'new way' of (Mars) doing things.

Some of us will do all of this through conversations with others, some will be sparked by things they see or hear - and some will do their contemplating in private. That fixed star Diadem (the "crowning glory") is currently at 9 Libra metaphysically increases our focus and what we can learn about matters which seem vital to our personal or long term interests.

But here's the thing - Diadem is a star which tends to manifest positively when we capitalize on a lesson learned, not one we want to teach others.

Most of May continues the eclipse process. Though not devoid of meaning and activity unique to itself, we're all realizing that things have changed.

Have we? Maybe we have...and maybe we haven't.

The good news is we have a couple of weeks to work on things now that the rather 'compacting' energetic of the eclipse has passed. Now we can take a bit of time and think our way through to who we intrinsically are - and who we are no longer becoming..
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Mercury in Taurus / Neptune at 7 Pisces

Pasaulio Sutverimas II (Creation of the World II)

by Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis (1906-1907)

As Mercury enters Taurus this Wednesday (April 23rd at 10:25 p.m. UT/+0 time) some things tone down...just a bit. Feelings of being on edge begin rounding out as life takes on a more genteel and considered, giving tone.

Yet at the same time that things are becoming less ‘cutting,’ they’re also becoming a bit...well, let’s just call it what it is: muddled - which goes to the other astrological matter timing out to Wednesday, namely planet Neptune’s shift into 7 Pisces.

And what’s so special about that?

That’s special because Neptune will remain at 7 Pisces from now through it’s station in early June (yes, I said June) until in retrograde Neptune ‘backs’ out of 7 Pisces into 6 Pisces - which won’t happen until we’re closing in on the end of July.

That’s a lot of time to be spent with Neptune at 7 Pisces, which suggests a metaphysical ‘emphasis’ on this point.

So what would Neptune at 7 Pisces be about? The degree itself is known for changing and changeable conditions and various not-so-very ‘crystal clear’ influences.

And that’s even without adding in any sort of ‘Neptune effect.’ So since Neptune is known for both idealism and illusion, equally promoting elation and desperation depending on our need to experience our feeling nature...it would seem that there is an overarching period (the Neptune/7 Pisces factor) which starts now and runs through almost all of July, and as part of that, Mercury is now entering Taurus.

And of course ...just to be fair here...the opposite could also be just as true: as Mercury entering Taurus can be a ‘color commentary’ on the activation of the ‘Neptune/7 Pisces’ theme, so too could we say that Neptune’s entering Pisces is a commentary on the two-week dash through Taurus Mercury is about to make.

The astrology of Neptune starts with its being the last true and full-fledged planet in our solar system as we head ‘out into the unknown’...or maybe just away from our personal consciousness and point of view - all that which is so brilliantly signified by our Sun.

Thus Neptune stands on the edge between all which is known...or even able to be known...and the un(not)known and/or not knowable - a metaphorical image which places planet Neptune in the position of inspiring us to explore (that which is unknown) and that which may well represent ‘the lifting of a veil’ or a ‘melting away of preconception’ or some dissolving of a wall or barrier - whether it’s in our heart or mind or out there in the street - whatever is keeping you from whatever you could experience and grow through experiencing...that’s where Neptune works.

And that’s why Neptune tends to be experienced as painful. We humans like our preconceptions as much (or more) than we like that favorite food from some childhood memory. We scream and scream for change and then cling to the old and known, often limiting ourselves through our reluctance to see beyond our pre-dreamed definition of what nirvana is.

In fact, it would be completely Neptunian (and Neptune-Taurus/Mercury) for me to suggest here that given our mortal and human perspective we have no ability to envision - never mind define - what nirvana may be. Or not be.

That difference...that gap between what we know and what we cannot know is very Neptunian in its ability to get us to wonder - and equally Neptunian in its ability to confound us with our own incongruities. As a psychological indicator the astrological (and astrology of) Neptune leads us through whatever  gives us (or makes us) pause entirely because of this factor, entirely because in our drive to become who we teaches us to excel through personal focus in a world which can’t have every person focused so exclusively on their Self lest we destroy each other in our self absorption.

All of which leads us to the idea of Pisces - the sign Neptune is transiting and co-ruler of. During Neptune’s long (and no doubt resonant) stay at 7 Pisces we will be learning most of all how ‘wise’ our directions, choices and belief systems are. What we will come into all such situations with will be some conviction that ‘we know.’

But do we? Do we really know - or have we been operating on a knowledge of theory?

Where idea meets human experience is expressed variously by the metaphysics of the zodiac. In this case the ‘idea’ of what works for everyone is Aquarian and the emotional triumph or toll is typically Piscean. Ever since Neptune entered Pisces (this time around) back in 2011 events of many kinds have forced us to consider how we are connected to what goes on in our world.

Some of that has been wonderful. Some of our experiences have been exceedingly unpleasant. And why is that? Astrology suggests that some a part of our ongoing (and new) difficulties have to do with us...probably more than a little bit. That tendency we all have to ‘cherry pick’ what we like in a situation, our willingness to ignore or deny things which don’t fit what we want to believe about things...?

Any choice which is not exclusive, or which by nature is restricted by some feeling on our part which negates or excludes the truth of what others feel (whether that’s about us or the subject at hand or anything else)...that is the sort of thing Neptune’s 2011-2025 transit of Pisces is bound to cover. During this time we will all learn a lot about our own orientation towards feelings. We will veer away from them, we’ll do that very Neptunian thing and project them...we’ll even pretend they neither matter nor need to be taken into account.

All such choices will be made on the basis of something we ‘know’ or think we know as fact...and yet after a traverse of the Pisces landscape, many such ‘gut feelings’ which turn out to fears.

Neptune transits tend to teach us to feel our fears not so that we can back away, but so we can begin to understand why we care. And what caring is about. Why it matters not just to ‘them’ but to us - as in for our purely human sake. (Humans don’t do well without feelings).

Through understanding what we care about and WHY we care about it, we come to a better place with, and within our personal Self.

That’s Neptune in Pisces, a process which sounds deceptively simple and even cuddly until we find out its anything but simply because in the world of human beings the known is always easier to opt for than the unknown.

As for Mercury, an everyday transit of Taurus by Mercury would be about about keeping things going the way we want them to go in general, and that’s one major theme we can expect to live through (and hear about) until Mercury moves on into Gemini as of May 7th. There will be a natural mental (Mercury) focus on matters and details having to do with the day-to-day business of living and we can expect at least a surface display of mainstream attention to all things central, societal and functional (read: food, money, transportation, scheduling, power systems, etc.)

Into all this will steal the Neptune/7 Pisces shift. It may well be subtle and for some it will manifest in confusion. So long as our goals are neither ego-driven nor ego-rewarding (individually or collectively) things may go a bit awry but with proper attention from those with ability in the name of the common cause (the term “common” here meaning either ‘common to everyone/all’ or ‘commonly encountered in everyday life’), much can be accomplished.

However...with this being said, Neptune effects (and transits) can be famously painful, particularly if or where we’re used to being ‘in control.’

Neptune processes favor the dissolution of what is most of all so that we can learn more, learn better and move on and Neptune functions as a great ‘societal’ or ‘humanistic’ leveler.

We’ll be thinking about such things throughout this time. Particularly as we move into and through the April 29th solar eclipse events and situations will continue providing whatever it will take to get us to feel.

The good news is that Mercury in Taurus tends towards concrete terms. The bad news is that Mercury in Taurus tends to want ‘proof’ before it does anything.

Venus (on left) and Mercury photographed in the sky above Paris

(photo credit: Josselin Desmars)

And yes, Taurus is a fixed sign - so like all fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius being the zodiacal quartet) it’s ‘pace’ has to do with ‘processing’ something. So in our own world as well as that of others, there is going to be a bit of waiting.

Unpopular waiting, that is. Though capable of the  decent, kind and noble Mercury Taurus does tend to wend something of a bullish way between poles of selfishness and generosity.

And there is one other little thing - beyond how notorious Mercury in Taurus is for moments of sheer, unmitigated stubbornness...those entirely enchanting (read: not enchanting at all) moments of ‘I can, so I will...’ that some strongly affected by this transit will pull through machinations of power, rank or leverage.

That ‘one thing’ is how Mercury/Neptune contacts tend to manifest in anything but the truth because we don’t want to be a universalist...or where we don’t want to feel any “inconvenient” feelings (‘inconvenient to us,’ that is).

When that happens, we tend to dig in. Some of us will be ‘clouded’ by feelings and not have the ‘foggiest’ what to do. Some of us will not want to see or listen - we’ll wrap ourselves in a veil of inner longings (our ‘dream image’) either to confound our own clarity of mind or because seeing, sensing or hearing something would require us to change.

And we’re scared of that. For whatever reasons we’re scared, we’re scared of that...which suggests that as our global mindset shifts from the courageous if often a bit self-centered Mercury in Aires transit (that which is just finishing) ...as for plus and minus we each leave our visionary world of inner mental conviction we arrive at not just the Mercury in Taurus need to ‘get real’ on some very basic level but Mercury in Taurus all ‘aglow’ with promise, we reconsider.

The ‘default” for Mercury in Taurus involves structuring and building what we have so that we can build our way into the future - our future. Taurus is full of promise, with the only question really being whether that promise will get used...and if used, used for what.

Our general times are telling us that some changes are under way. Whether we look at eclipse cycles or the rise of the Aquarian Age some things are slowly but surely passing away and we’re not always comfortable with that.

But that feeling isn’t being ‘caused’ by them. We feel what we feel because we learned to feel that way - and to ignore that is to prevent ourselves from going forward...which is generally unproductive, to say the least.

Also - since I’ve just mentioned the eclipse, messenger Mercury will be moving through 8 Taurus within just a few days (call it April 11th or 12th, depending on your location) and that will tend to either ‘trigger’ eclipse effects for everyone to some extent. It’s therefore not unlikely to expect some people to suddenly see some ‘error’ in their thinking, plans or ways of going about things in general while others will press forward ever so resolutely.

Some things will begin to change at this point. Other things will be proven to be substantially lacking in validity or even feasibility. Even without Neptune’s famously infamous ‘now you think you know it...now you aren’t so sure’ quality this is likely to be a delicate time calling for some form of sensitivity.

Taurus is a sign about basic human need and necessity. It’s a sign all about what it takes to be someone in this world and the kind of bedrock ability to be a person, a mortal human being unto our Self. All the ‘native’ strengths we use in life, all which feeds our needs so that we can exist, carry on and excel - all that is natively Taurus. As Mercury transits Taurus the entire subject of ‘mentality’ is likely to come to center stage as various (Neptunian) truths and fictions come to light in our individual as well as societal lives. With everyone still pushing through a seeming endless set of challenges (reflecting the Venus-Mercury-Mars/Saturn retrogrades which began last December) there will be frustration and a few rash speeches made all around.

Some will avoid truths, some will choose to lie and some will come realize actualities far different from the assumptions they had been proceeding on. In some areas we will find out that things really are as we were thinking they were (or as we were told they were). In others, confusion may reign making some problems simply impassable...at least for now.

Mercury/Neptune as a signal of duplicitous activities suggests that some will ‘falsify for gain’ or be led astray now. Then again, they may know exactly what they’re doing - or their standards of consideration or for making decisions may be completely different than yours.

What do such things mean?

Nothing about this transit has to be malicious or ‘bad’ though it’s likely that during the next couple of weeks (and yes, on through May into June and July) implications will arise which cast doubts on some ‘known’ (singular or plural)...while other perhaps less “likely” solutions become viable.

Again...it is not ‘the thing’ which counts: it’s your orientation to your own capacity for balancing feelings against fact, hope against loss, reality against faith which mostly matters and matters most. Without question, some of us will now learn that some ‘theory’ we have been working with or proceeding on the basis of was incorrect...or being incorrectly applied.

Planet Neptune in its natural coloration with moons Proteus at the top, Larissa

at the lower right and Despina on the left.

(photo credit: Hubble Space Telescope, NASA-JPL)

But that’s just life too. Sometimes an idea is just an idea - we can’t put it into play wholesale, but we can be informed by it so that the choices we do make (in part because of our ideas are more acceptable (viable, useful) to everyone else...and thus how we come to be respected, cherished and rewarded by others.

This is one of the great Taurus-Scorpio polarity points: both signs gain more by offering than demanding. The power and control denoted by both Taurus and Scorpio are to be applied to ourselves so that we can bring the best out in that Self and thus earn position, power and that sort of control we think of as leadership.

If and where we can have faith in exploring new ways of approaching foundational issues now, astrology suggests much can come of our efforts and interactions providing we bear in mind that the (Neptune) universal perspective is as yet unclear. That’s not the easiest order to fulfill as Mercury’s two week transit of Taurus is bound to manifest in assessments and question of a practical and pragmatic kind.

Still Neptune teaches that we must allow ourselves not to know...which means we can only try - and when necessary, try again. We evidently don’t know know everything which can happen as yet...and just owning that much may cause ripples in whatever life pond we happen to swim in. Recognizing that seems to be part of our process as Neptune sets us up to experience its call to the experience of altruism, loss, faith, inspiration and despair imaged by the Sabian degree definition ‘A GIRL BLOWING A BUGLE.’

The girl is a young person - this is not a ‘full grown’ moment in time. It is young and therefore innocent as yet of what can happen but still driven by the power of the discovering mind. The image being of a female is not a reference to gender but rather to rather the metaphysics of ‘yin’ and thus the accumulated standing or experience which we are now ‘trumpeting’ (calling) to others with...or which is calling us.

And it just may be both...which brings us to our question: what, to whom and how will we answer that call? Are we willing to understand where that call is coming from and why it's important just now?
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