Dateblog: November 2014

November 2014

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For those who were thinking that once past the solar eclipse we were out of Scorpio’s alternately frosty and incendiary waters, not so fast!

As is clearly visible in the above (looking at all the red) it’s pretty obvious much of November will be all about what we (Scorpio) want, why we (Scorpio) want it and why it’s (Scorpio) so incredibly important to us to make our point and if humanly possible, have our way.

But again, the real issue with Scorpio is not about whether ‘they’ cooperate or agree with us. It’s not about whether we achieve our aim-de-jour.

It’s about why such things are so important to us - and that doesn’t mean ‘because that’s what I was taught’ (or what we believe in, etc.) but an emotional (water sign) reference to where we stand with our Self with regards to the whole concept of security - that being what Scorpio ultimately seeks to teach, and where necessary, test.

And lest we miss the point, this doesn’t refer to what our security “depends” on in day-to-day life, either; as important as food, shelter, health and other such basics are, they are the Taurus - not the Scorpio side of this equation. So it’s not the money or food or housing structure which we’re talking about, but the emotional sense of importance - that critical emotional concern which ‘defines’ security beyond its mere physicality which is the heart and soul of Scorpio.

For the first half of the month this basic Scorpio concern will underlie much of what happens, with feelings and issues being ‘highlighted’ around the time of the Taurus Full Moon on November 6th. Providing we can get past our own business we are likely to be treated by interesting ‘displays’ being put on by others - and while some will merely focus on what is getting (or that has been) done, others will learn far more by thinking through to why those people would be needing to do whatever they’re doing. The important information of the moment will come from this secondary and more emotional source... but it will also be hard to utilize what gets learned without recognizing that whatever we do will produce unilateral results.

And that means we can’t win or ‘defeat’ anyone in this moment. We can HELP everyone, but the ‘singling’ out which creates some pluses and some minuses isn’t likely to hold water during this particular Full Moon period.

Against this, Pluto and Mars are in Capricorn - a sign which is naturally in sextile to Scorpio, indicating the 'thought'...or an opportunity to either advance one’s own cause or to create or advance cooperative efforts. Starting the month out at 4 Capricorn (which is neither here nor there, I’m just giving you a point of reference), Mars will enter the 5-degree orb of conjunction to Pluto on November 4th (UT/+0), give or take the time zone you’re in. The actual conjunction takes place over the days of November 10th and 11th, which given time zones may lapse back to the 9th and forward to the 12th, and we should expect a good deal of ‘movement’ on many a matter or situation at this time as 'hard' aspects between Pluto and Mars (the square, conjunction or opposition) represents the sort of intersecting of motivation and understanding which promotes feeling responses - which then we do or don't manage. Pluto/Mars combinations, whatever shape they take speak to ‘developments’ which test our ability to understand how what is being done 'to' us is at some level a product of choices (our choices) past and present.

The dates from November 4th to/through November 17th (again, depending on your time zone) will reveal most of the “business” of this month - and that can be positive in full measure with the degree to which we are willing to require of ourselves that we own our own feelings (as above) and neither project nor base decisions on that emotionality... and which can be negative when we let ourselves do what we want just because we’re ‘feeling that way.’

Meanwhile life will tempt us to do our worst - or to fail ourselves in the fullest of eventualities simply because we did give in to the emotions of the moment.

With Pluto not moving from 11 to 12 Capricorn until November 26th, most of November will carry an undercurrent about connectivity/connections (or opportunities to connect) which we avoid - which as November draws to a close will turn into a desire to charm, to intrigue, to interact, with the motivation for same being the basic question. The positive of 12 Capricorn being a wit, care and precision which when applied in equal measure crafts genius, and the negative of this degree is the cruelty (sometimes to the point of criminality) and narcissistic tendencies which produce fantastic and frantic lies, all of which are visible to those being lied to, if equally and determinedly denied by the liar.

The ‘shape of things’ begins to change around November 14th as Neptune goes on station and the Leonid meteor shower beings on the 15th. The Leonids don’t last that long - this year they will only be seen between November 15th and 20th, that being all about how the orbit of the comet (Tempel-Tuttle) intersects that of Earth in such a manner as to ‘compact’ the effect - which metaphysically we can think of as many ideas or new ‘sparks’ of information appearing in the darkness of our mental-mortal skies.

But that all this happens just as Neptune goes direct on November 16th? And that this is just about the time when Venus, as the first of the personal planets to shift into Sagittarius changes many a consideration.

About this time, things will begin to change. With Neptune on station they are not predictable - not that that’s any help. Instinct will have us wanting to do things, but if our instinct is based even a little on anything corrupt (including our sense of vulnerability or fear) we’re likely to get a bit of a lesson.

And that would be because this particular station-direct moment is being brought to us by not just Neptune and not just Pisces, the sign Neptune is transiting - but also fixed and royal star Fomalhaut.

- link to post -

The Royal Stars of Persia (Pt. 4): Fomalhaut

For some, the reality of their vulnerability is their need to be invulnerable - or at least to feel they are. For others, walls between Self and the reasons why we feel some given way will melt away.

As the Sun and Mercury join Venus in Sagittarius, the intensity of this past month will further ease. With that however, many will experience a period of disappointment - a sort of ‘why can’t things be the way I want them to be?’ malaise. With Mercury moving into Sagittarius on November 28th, a few things may get out of hand - which among other things could be good or not good for retailers as this date coincides with the ‘official’ start of the holiday shopping season. Known for blowing things out of proportion and a tendency towards much talk and fewer practical/pragmatic solutions, Mercury in Sagittarius speak to rising levels of stress, rhetoric and activity where and IF we don’t think in concrete terms.

It also says that concrete terms are not what we’re likely to be thinking in - particularly as November ends with transiting Mercury (in interactive Sagittarius) square transiting Neptune (in global/universal Pisces). Neptune-Mercury contacts being known for confusing or deceptive situations, in being posed between Pisces and Sagittarius this would seem to be a search for truth - or an avoidance of facts, depending.

Does this mean there will be a little over-indulging as November comes to a close? Probably. Does it mean we either won't be sure of what we want to do or that we will be wanting to do some 'fun' thing instead of the 'right' thing? Quite possibly. So long as we keep a sense of proportion about us such a transiting square will generally pass with little hassle other than the occasional set of lost keys.

And then we move on, as November becomes December - and the truth, especially that which informs us as to why we have done or been as we have, asserts itself.

At which point, we will reflect.
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Sun in Cancer

Sun on Rails

(photo credit: Herbert Smith, October 2004)

The Sun enters Cancer on June 21st at 10:52 in the morning (UT/+0). And as it does, astrologically life moves from six months (and six signs) of overall pro-active or experimental mode into a six month (six signs) period where all of the signs...Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius...at some level all speak to that which ‘responds’ or which causes us to take stock, build a better understanding of how to be or become more effectively based on experience - which is to say ours.

Cancer is all about feeling that ‘experiencing’...either in the most basic ‘who we are and where we come from’ sort of way...or in the receiving, containing or utilizing the emotional motivation we either get from our past or as we look to our future.

And yes, sometimes where those two things overlap...you know, where we get ‘motivated’ to work towards a better future, be it that of ourselves or in any more general or worldly way?

Cancer tends to have two very different modes - the emotionally confidence which comes from feeling at home with being ourselves in this life...and the insecure side of Cancer, that which most know as an ability to nudge, nag or get snippy, impatient or frustrated. Wherever we find Cancer in the natal chart, that house describes where and how we will experience some very ‘under our skin’ as well as ‘salt of the earth’ Cancerian moments.

And now all that comes to the fore as the Sun enters Cancer.

 2014 Cancer Ingress (Aries Wheel/Location Not Specific)(glyph chart)

2014 Cancer Ingress (Aries Wheel/Location Not Specific)(text chart)

Seeing that this ingress happens with Mercury still in retrograde suggests that from the time of the Cancer Solstice (June 21st, UT/+0) we are all likely to be wrestling just a bit with internal matters, be that in our mind, our heart...in some tug-of-war involving both...or  in any other ‘behind-the-scenes’ sense.

Plus there is one other little Mercury notion: because this ingress shows Mercury at 27 degrees of Gemini, part of the questions and self-questioning conflicts we will all face not just in the next month but over the next zodiacal quarter (the months of Sun in Cancer, Sun in Leo and Sun in Virgo - call it until mid-late September)...all of that time will have flecks and quirks of how well we have (or haven’t) reconciled our Self to the idea of what we give to the world against what we get from the world, some of which is likely to concern our home, home life, cultural heritage and the very Earth we call home - replete with it’s many other denizens, furry, fishy, feathered and otherwise and inclusive of anything good or bad about our very human life on said Earth.

27 Gemini is known for utter loyalty to some ideas as well as the utter rejection of others - which is very much in keeping with it’s position exactly in opposition to the Galactic Center (the center of our local Milky Way galaxy at 27 Sagittarius), a point which is all about needing to give (or make something of one’s self which ‘gives’ to others merely by nature) in order to fulfill one’s personal potential.

As Mercury goes direct on July 1st, some degree of questioning or discussing (with our Self or others) ‘takes a turn’...and we’ll feel a bit more clarified as the days roll forward until Mercury exits the shadow of its retrograde on July 15th. Add to that the implied (sign-to-sign) square implied by the Sun transiting Cancer against Mars in Libra and there will be distractions. And yes, there will be situations and reactions/commentaries (on our part or coming from others) which test our ability to merge or mesh our interests/perspectives with those favored or indeed needed by others. With Mars still in Libra and our notion of life [the Sun] being in Cancer, some of these messages will be purely about ego and need internal compromise while others will bring us into an awareness of (or the need to understand) some particular weakness which, in being expressed by Mars, is mental, conceptual or theoretical in nature.

All this will come to a head as we pass July 14th and move towards July 20th, that being the date when Mars finally (finally!!) wraps up its retrograde cycle in a conjunction with the Sun - which is something of a guarantee of a red-letter day.

What kind of a red-letter is up to us.

Jupiter and Io photographed in thermal-infrared from the Paranal Observatory

(photo credit ESO, November, 2000)

With that said, done and experienced however, then Mars heads for the end of its transit of Libra (read: the raising of personal issues through interactions/lack of interactions with others) which began back on December 7, 2013.

As for the Sun/Mars transiting conjunction, that can mark a finding of peace on any individual or collective level (even both). Then again, it can signal a moment in time when sheer stubbornness wins out.

Yet best beware: the ‘win’ of this moment doesn’t necessarily indicate success. Nor does it mean that which is done couldn’t be undone. Much of the good and bad of all here depends on us - on how well we handle the experiencing of our Self through our emotions. Mind you, this isn’t about ‘happiness’ per se, but rather more about our ability or willingness to ‘own’ our emotions in a world where everyone else has equally valid feelings.

As for the chart of this ingress...though you may be looking at the red lines (indicating square aspects) and think you’re looking at a Grand Square, you’re actually not - which is good, as Grand Squares tend to manifest as situations which need to be balanced and handled and pursued without any clear sort of resolution. Instead we get two t-squares, an idea which may produce a few groans (even more than a few) but which also speaks to a period of time (both the next month and the whole of the quarter) which asks whether we are able to operate for the good of all and not just in our own interests, be they defined by family, race, culture, heritage, affiliations individual or group, private or public, financial status or...well, you know - simple personal preference.

Both of these t-squares are in cardinal (pro-active) signs, with the Pluto/Vega t-square indicating the need to ‘get real’ in order to deal with some sort of powerful, even ‘controlling’ idea, ideal or allure (that being Vega’s charismatic touch) in order to affect some needed change...lest we experience change which is driven by someone else’s allegiance to some sort of ‘dream.’

Against this we have Jupiter at 24 Cancer - the expansive or expansion of will in overcoming others which when done without sufficient regard for others and/or care for human values and human beings fails utterly, whether in the short or long run. There is a decided Moon-Eris-South Node tendency to take the road known and to listen to those who are prone to agreeing with us simply because we feel so invested in our perspective that to (Sun in Cancer) experience anything which would tremble, however gently, our convictions feels intolerable.

Welcome to Sun in Cancer. That feeling? That reaction to the notion of needing to feel or being forced to feel who we’re being or what we would feel like if someone was doing-saying-acting as we are...all that would seem to be the point here. The ‘goal’ of this second t-square (the one in blue) being described as Ceres/North Node, we know the goal is a stable and productive relationship with our world, with life and with others.

It’s just that getting there is rather challenging - particularly to those who prefer to function in theory.

One other notion here: Capricorn against Jupiter, when split as it is in this image is often a signature of ‘those in power’ against ‘those who follow,’ be that a simple matter of parents with children or the more esoteric (if no less real and certainly no less important) concept of a government and its citizens. This is not so much a ‘power play’ dynamic as it’s likely to display a difference in orientation, with the Capricorn side stressing rules and/or consequences against a Cancerian need for continuity, lest that which needs to be done fails to hit its mark. Some manipulation of facts is to be expected. Yet where such tactics are used, chaos and destruction of that which is most cherished is likely to occur.

To some extent we are all likely to want to avoid some issues this month...but if we do, we’re only compromising ourselves.

So...do we want to do that?
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Mercury in Pisces

An open air market in Guadelajara, Mexico

(photo credit: Christian Frausto Bernal, June 2006)

Most of our past two months has reflected – among other things – an incisive sort of mental clarity about what we were doing, regardless of how well things were going.

And no, they didn’t always go the way we wanted them to. But that just leads us to a different and inevitable Aquarian sort of question…would we have learned as much if we hadn’t met up with those challenges?

No, not about others, about our Self. Life isn’t about ‘them’ – it’s about how well or not well we develop ourselves with regards to, and in interaction with others. With the world. With our aspirations, hopes and dreams.

…All of which brings us back to that most ultimate of considerations: how do we feel about it all? How do we feel about what’s been going on? Some things have gone right for us – notably when and where we have stuck to our guns in determining what we thought was right, necessary and needed.

That all began back in January…and it began under Venus retrograde in Capricorn, meaning the underlying lack of satisfaction felt like it was generated by some worldly function or process even if metaphysically the issue was something we needed to learn about our relationship to our Self…and whether we’ve invested enough in, or structured our life so as to cover all the necessary bases in our effort to…become.

Yes, it’s becoming a becoming sort of time…provided we are willing to become that which we have actually come to be. 

The reason to bring Mercury in Aquarius up is because the hours before Mercury moves into Pisces (on March 17th at 10:25 p.m. UT/+0 time) this extended Aquarian period will be ‘pushing’ to understand and ‘gather in’ all which may apply to our cause or ideas…and then some sort of electricity fades into softness.

That feeling of ‘softness’ or pliability is typical of Pisces. It can also be highly deceptive – literally or figuratively, so don’t get too comfortable and don’t assume you know the truth of everything you might be thinking now, and going forward into early April.

That idea of ‘deception’ is a rather well known factor with Pisces with the basic thing to understand being that Pisces ‘deceives’ either out of fear or compassion… and that said fear or compassion is about us. No, it’s not about them – if they’re our feelings, its our fear or compassion…and thus our experience of Pisces, the central (fishy) debate of which is about where being vulnerable enough to connect, feel and experience the faith of trust becomes a detriment, vulnerability and liability perhaps in terms of others, but first and last in Self.

Pisces, last sign of the zodiac, tests our level of emotional liability. Through Piscean experiences we are surrendered to our own psyche with the sign on our 12 house natal cusp (which may not be Pisces) being the indicator of where or in what area of life we will tend to meet up with Piscean experiences.

So first we wrap up some Aquarian sort of ‘thinking’ going into Mercury’s Pisces ingress. Then when Mercury crosses over the degree (3 Pisces) it went retrograde at back on February 6th on March 20th.

And after that happens…several matters we have been waiting to ‘finalize’ or get information on come back into play.

Are our mental blanks sufficiently filled in that we can move on now? That’s the first question, though with the Sun having moved into Aries by this time, it seems obvious that we have to do something.

But do we? Is it better to take action or better to wait long enough until we are sure we are fully conscious and cognizant (that being the Sun in Aries requirement) of how others feel?

That’s the required understanding here – the innate acceptance that we are people. We’re mortal and vulnerable and flawed, each and every one of us. Part of this entire Aquarius-Pisces cycle has been about divisions and part of it has been about commonalities. We all know the universal maxims – so why is it we can’t get things into alignment?

No, it isn’t them, its us. Each and every living last one of us…and the accent here is on ‘living’ even though discussions may center on death, loss and the lamentable distance we all have to travel on our way to living up to our better selves as opposed to greatly egocentric standards…standards we would surely feel better about if others were with us instead of against us.

Or ignoring us.

Or not listening to us.

Although…with Mercury entering Pisces as Neptune is positioned at 5 degrees of Pisces (conjunct fixed star Deneb), asteroids Arachne, Pandora, royal star Fomalhaut and Hebe, emblem of helping or helpfulness… what we have is a recipe for either doubt or illusion.

And that 'recipe' is made up of many factors, the variables of which are likely to be many and variously worthwhile as imaged by the Sabian symbol for zero Pisces: IN A CROWDED MARKETPLACE, FARMERS AND MIDDLEMEN DISPLAY A GREAT VARIETY OF PRODUCTS. In notes on this degree, astrologer Marc Edmund Jones referred to it as a 'commingling and interchange' which by both benefit and flaw reveals the positives and negatives - the "health" (as he puts it) of a community.

Which is valid. But considering how zero Pisces is the earliest of all Pisces degrees indicates an inception, a beginning, something new - or at least seen in a new light.

A feeling light, that would be. And the feelings are ours, complicated thought they probably are. The same 'great variety' we might choose from in the marketplace within our psyches becomes the many factors which go into how I feel about...

It's that moment, the moment when we perceive the 'marketplace' within that Pisces becomes operative. And from there the only question is whether we are willing to feel and endure the full breadth of whatever our loves, regrets, points of confusion and inspirations may be.

Those who will feel will learn. They may not like all they come to understand, but with acceptance, that deep intuitive understanding we think of as wisdom begins  materializing. We can't start it, we can't stop it, we can only absorb, bear witness and through feeling all that such experiences entail, evolve our most human and mortal essence.

As for those who won't feel, their keyword is 'denial'...the one word which recalls Pisces most painful detriments, those many things which have earned this sign the nickname 'trash bin of the zodiac.'

It's not so nice a name and I'm sure a lot of Piscean people have been offended (and secretly hurt) by that reference, never realizing that anyone who would use it is referring to their own willingness to throw away some part of their own humanity.

That's offensive, yes. But it's not offensive in the way most people think of offensive. The idea that we we would reject our Self simply because that Self has been hurt or isn't pretty...that's the height of rejecting mortality.

Humans are not perfect. We grow through having  vulnerabilities which force us to grapple with our feelings, becoming more of our Self in the process.

Pisces is not to be equated with weakness. Our modern world is full of exhortations to reject our emotional shadow.

And in that lies the reason why life is becoming ever more difficult. That which we are that we reject, deny or project onto others comes back to haunt us.

The chief indicator here is the Mercury/Neptune connection. Though this combination can indicate altruism of a very high order (and if you have a choice, that’s the way to go), Neptune-Mercury contacts more often than not include some level of deception - and not the kind where someone lies to us, no.

This is where we choose to lie to ourselves because whether the issue is what we want of/for others or what life is requiring of us, the truth of where our feelings come from would tear us up.

Royal star Fomalhaut, surrounded by its dust disk as photographed by

the Herschel Space Observatory.

(photo credit: ESA)

In other words, Pisces avoids, eludes and evades not because it doesn’t care…but because we care about so very much - and this isn't the Mercury in Aquarius caring about the idea and whether we understand someone. This is the Mercury in Pisces 'I feel you'...this is where we care about how we feel about having to understand that thing we never wanted to think about.

This is where life presents us with something either so awesome or so terrible (and sometimes, strangely, both) that we find ourselves feeling our Self yearning.

We’ll sometimes think something important in that 'passing fancy' way. And then we'll walk away and feel ourselves knowing how it’s not 'the thing' or what was being said but how we feel about it which counts. That's what's endowing whatever with its importance (or lack thereof).

It's us, not them...which is a pretty stunning thought considering the clarified convictions we will arrive at this transit embedded in.

We think we know 'them' and 'that' as surely as we think we know the facts, we know how we feel about those facts and we're the person with the plan.

Wrong. In fact, the more you think you 'know' them or what something is 'about,' the more likely you are to be proven wrong now unless you have been able to accept your intuition as fact and act on same with an equal willingness to be right or wrong.

And make no mistake - Pisces will test us emotionally. So though we may well want to know who others 'are' and where they stand now, they're unlikely to be any more sure of why they are as they are than we are about ourselves over these weeks ahead...which is only going to heighten everyone's confusion.

But that's the other Piscean point: Pisces asks us to accept what happens. It's about having sufficient faith to accept ourselves and others in equal heartfelt measure, giving because we can and receiving because we earn our right to be valued in kind. Pisces tests us in regards to others, or through what happens to others because of our needs, not theirs.

It’s part of our life-long search to feel valid. Not validated – that’s a worldly term - valid. We want to feel valid. And when we think about that idea in light of Pisces being the twelfth and final sign of the zodiac, then we come to what may be the biggest lie of them all: that life is individual.

It isn’t: we’re all in the same life, we’re all living in the same time and we’re all we’ve got – individually and collectively.

What a precious lot we are, too.

During Mercury’s passage through Pisces we will think well and ill of ourselves and others not to confuse us, but in order to get us to let go of thinking life is all about us – the great key to inspiration, faith and emotional salvation during the weeks ahead. Without that we will tend to be fearful and feel terribly rejected even though we’re not.

We’re just being who we are. We’re just finding our way in a world filled with other people finding their way. If we accept that, as we accept that our emotional walls will fall away and leave us free.

Of course then we’ll just start feeling exposed – which is the Piscean way. Whatever we do, whatever we settle on now, life proceeds apace as long as we proceed with what we’re doing with a light hand and willingness to listen.

With Mars still in retrograde and pre-eclipse ‘breaking down’ effects slowly but steadily making it plainer and plainer where in our lives we’ve based our choices or priorities not on universal strengths but rather our inability to escape some sort of inner doubt, Mercury in Pisces is something akin to a suggestion which feels in part like a dream…and in part like a decree, which at times will annoy us – and at other times bother us a good deal.

The choice to react or not – that’s about us. And what it is what it is will also be part of what we feel ourselves learning about during the next three weeks.

This can be an extremely creative time. Then again, it can be a disappointing, even frightening time.

The trick is knowing which is real…and that nothing is yet settled.

Not yet.

And that's the final Piscean thought here - one about how Pisces teaches endurance through forcing us to tolerate whatever affects us most uncontrollably.

It is in the learning that those things aren't about someone else but only about us that we confront our individuality - and thus the intrinsic 'aloneness' of being born. Once we can own both the fear of that mortality and our love of life...once we can own feelings and feel those feelings while not being enslaved by those feelings - then we find our heart and that compassion for Self which in turn allows us to care ever more deeply for others and where they come from.

It's not an easy lesson - which is another thing we need to be sensitive to. We can't learn everything all at once. Nor should we expect ourselves to do so. And that we know we can't do, we should understand in - or learn about through others.

It's all and always either about what we give or are given, which now...in keeping with the Mercurial thought and talk mantra...becomes what we are given to know, feel and share our experiences of. 
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News Notes: Mercury-Klotho-Medusa

Header image based on "Beauty ones again (Red and Blue)"

computer generated images by Fried C (April 2009)

The Sun and Mars are in Aries. And as of this Saturday (April 6th), Mercury will be exiting the shadow of its February-March Pisces retrograde.

That doesn’t mean that Mercury is out of Pisces yet. But that Mercury is exiting the shadow of its retrograde does tell us that there are things we have been dealing with (or which may have been ‘shadowing’ our thoughts or mood) through late February into March which will now be shook off.

A wet Spaniel doing what wet dogs do - sharing the wetness!

(photo credit: Des Colhoun, geograph-org-uk, March 2008)

The image of a wet dog sort appeals to me here (more than it generally has when I’ve been too close to one) because Mercury still is transiting water sign Pisces. So there will be some of us who will ‘shake off our mood’ by dampening the moods of others.

Nobody’s saying this is good or not good – for all I know, it could be what someone needs, deserves or even expects. There’s no judgment on that score.

However! (You knew I was going to say something, right?) Since we are talking Pisces, there are two rulers of Pisces to consult on current doings mental and emotional, including those ever-lovin’ emotional thoughts and those thoughts which while not innately emotional may be on an emotionally laden subject.

Part one of Pisces: the Jupiter question. That question goes like this: how well do you understand your own emotionality, and why your emotions work that way? No matter what the subject is, was or is about to be, the purpose of Mercury in Pisces is to grow our personal knowledge of how our feelings work, how feelings work in general, and how to handle emotionality without being afraid of it.

It’s time to get down and get human, folks! Yes, and if you’re someone who has spent the last however long ducking an issue or hiding under a mental pillow, this applies to you double!

Jupiter’s current position in Gemini tells us there’s a lot to be said. That Atropos and Scheherazade are sharing space with Jupiter at 12 Gemini tells us there’s a lot of thought or information or things to be learned (or other Jupiterian whatnot) which have to do with ‘the end (Atropos) of a story.’

Now…this may be you having told yourself some story. Or it might be the end of a relationship…the story of you and…

It might even be about the end of a job, the end of a vacation, the end of trying to do or not do something.

The 12 Gemini part would seem to add to the Mercury-in-Pisces ‘fluidity’ here as this is one of Gemini’s more unrealized degrees, which especially with the addition of Mercury as ruler of Gemini and thus this Gemini influence means oops…I made a bad choice. Or maybe you choose badly in not getting involved. 

Or, or, or…

The outcome ruler of Pisces being Neptune, if you’ve been hanging around astroPPM for any length of time, you’ll already be saying ‘uh, yeah…Neptune is still conjunct Fomalhaut, that royal fixed star thing about needing to be good and pure and on the up-and-up, lest everything go kabloowie.’ 

And you would be right.

For those who would prefer a more dignified version of the Fomalhaut concept, here’s the link:

Link to post

Fomalhaut, Royal Star of Persia

So to wrap this all up in a nice Mercury shoe lace (which I’m borrowing from Mercury’s winged sandals), what happens in over the next few days probably has something to do with a choice you need to make now based on choices you made at some point prior to now. If your past choice was not so nifty and pure, things will be less genteel and more trying now. Yes, you may have to double up (or double down, depending) on your cover up (read: denial, refusal to deal with something)…but be forewarned – we are talking Neptune here, which means this is a classic bad time (BAD TIME) to tell lies, ignore the truth or otherwise think you can get away with something, particularly anything which affects anyone else and/or which violates some tenet of faith (Neptune) or legality (Jupiter).

Meanwhile, we have two other items on the astro-menu. The first is Klotho going retrograde at 18 Sagittarius on Friday the 5th, just as Mercury is about to exit its shadow. And as Klotho goes retrograde, Medusa is starting the day off right by entering Pisces bright and early at 4:14 a.m. (UT/+0) time.

Klotho is one of the Greek fates. Specifically, she is the fate who ‘spins’ the yarn…which goes rather curiously well with Jupiter conjunct Scheherazade. So we wouldn’t be surprised if someone spun a story now. Or if they told a second story (read: lie) to cover up for their first story.

The Spinner

William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1873, oil on canvas)

One thing to remind ourselves of here is that this may not be active storytelling we’re talking about. This may be the some sort of course of excuses or justifications one part of our psyche is telling some other part of our psyche so that we don’t have to face something.

On the other side of the fish scale would be the possibility that Klotho, in going retrograde in the ‘let’s see if this can work’ Sagittarius represents our realizing we need to change course and start again. Or that we need to stop ‘spinning our wheels’ and get something done.

It depends on where these points fall in your chart as to how you’ll deal with the yea or nay of all this.

Then we get to the Medusa part of the thing. If you’ve never read an astrologer’s version of what Medusa represents, I sincerely urge you to give it a read as this isn’t just about being turned to stone. Or if it is, let’s say it’s not because of someone else. It’s our chart, so Medusa in our chart is all about US.

Link to post…

Medusa: Through Our Mental Mirror, Darkly  

In general terms, Medusa in Pisces is either all about the feelings we are afraid to feel or where our feelings have caused us to break our promises, violate our standards or otherwise do something which ordinarily we wouldn’t do.

Alternately, Medusa in Pisces can be all about the fear we feel towards some subject. We’re either scared of what we’ll think of some truth…or maybe we’re scared of the emotional effort we’ll be put through in the process of learning some truth. Or we might even be fearful of becoming (or what it means to be) the person who knows enough (or who should know enough) to either know better or be the person who is inevitably going to be asked to step up and take charge.

And of course there is that little matter of Medusa entering Pisces and joining up with Neptune and Fomalhaut.

Those who have done wrong and who know the proverbial moment of justice is upon them aren’t likely to like this transit of Medusa in Pisces. And since Medusa’s going to be in Pisces until mid-June, there’s plenty of time to spread the dread (of consequences created for ourselves) around.

Need I mention that there will be not two, but three eclipses during this time?

Probably not.

So these next few days (call it the weekend) is going to be full of fun and mental frolic. If you’re prone to ghouls and poltergeists – be they real or emotional – this weekend has your name on it.

On the other hand, for those living an ordinarily clean and self-owned life, this weekend is likely to be dappled with a little spookiness on the part of others, and maybe a brief sprinkle from a passing wet dog, but otherwise you’ll be in the clear. Mercury exiting the shadow of a retrograde does assure us that we are leaving at least a few things behind.

So I bid you enjoyable emotional sailing…may your winds of fortune carry you towards the dawning of new dreams!
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Sun in Virgo/Mars in Scorpio: A Cake Walk Life

 The Harvesters by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

 (1565, Metropolitan Museum of Art,  courtesy of Google Art Project)

Whether you live in the northern or southern hemisphere, the sign of Virgo is about the idea of the harvest at two different levels.

On one hand, Virgo represents the actual harvest – that which we create through thoughtful effort put in over a period of time. As the second of the zodiac’s three earth signs, Virgo is not the ‘mission accomplished’ that Capricorn represents. Rather, it’s the process of making sure that accomplishment comes to be.

Being earthy, Virgo deals in the tangible. It’s focus is on what we CAN do about anything, which implies using the tools and resources you have on hand and knowing (or learning) how to use those tools or resources.

Like each of the zodiac’s elemental cycles (earth, air, fire and water), Virgo is ultimately about getting where we want to go…where we need to go…where we will feel fulfilled by going. And lest you think otherwise, that goal doesn’t stop at Capricorn. Like all things zodiac, elemental cycles are continuous….think of them as a spiral to ascend through success not in society’s eyes, but in our own self-regard.

What this means is that we start with all the Taurus self worth and self regard…the willingness to take hold of something and try it on, the native attributes of whatever kind we bring to the task. That move through the Virgo ‘application’ phase, during which we figure out how to ‘make things work’ so that we can reach the desired (Capricorn) goal.

Think of it as baking a cake. Taurus (which by the by, is the sign of food resources in your pantry, restaurants to eat from and the whole farmer-grocers-grocery stores chain which gets food to us)…the Taurus phase is the deciding that you’re hungry for a cake (or that there’s an occasion which calls for a cake) and that you’re going to bake one. (Whether you’re a pastry chef or a novice doesn’t matter.)

You go to the cupboard and sort through what you have (very Taurus) and what you need in order to have your cake and eat it too (also Taurus).

The link between Taurus and Virgo is the going to the store…the setting things in motion. Taurus is a fixed sign, so all it’s deciding and sorting and making lists is a ‘static’ sort of operation. Virgo, on the other hand, is a mutable sign – and mutable signs do this, try that, go here, go there. Mutable signs are all about connecting the dots and moving the process along, replete with course corrections and wiping stray flour off the counter.

The cake comes out, you worry about whether its any good while it’s cooling on the rack, then you gather up your wits (and decorating tools) and go to town with the frosting.

That’s all Virgo. Virgo is whatever the process is which connects the making a decision that something is worth doing to the having it done. So if you bake the cake and put it out on the platter, we’re all good with that – you’ve reached the Capricorn goal and you have a cake to show for your efforts.

Eating the cake is the enjoying the accomplishment, the goal…or to put this in standard Capricorn parlance, the ‘what you have built through your efforts.’ In Capricorn we savor our accomplishments – whether alone or in the company of cake devotees with whom we have decided to share.

This is the ‘societal’ or ‘commerce’ aspect of Capricorn: who you would invite to partake of your cake depends on a.) who you like, and b.) who you think will like your cake. If you don’t like them or value them enough, you won’t invite them to partake. If you think they might not like your cake you’ll invite them to attend and tell them they don’t have to eat it, but you’d like them there to celebrate the creation of your caloric masterpiece.

And once the scene (and table) are set, that’s where Capricorn vaults leads back to Taurus – in the tasting of the cake, the fulfilling of our hunger.

But when we taste that cake, one of several things happen. Either we get all filled with cake and after the inevitable sugar high get all dozy with satisfaction that we have ‘done good’ and fulfilled our aims…or at that first bite of cake we realize we have a lot to learn about cake baking.

Or maybe that first cake is so much fun we want to start making plans to make other cakes.

We are now back at Taurus, and we will begin a new round of ‘hungering' – whether that’s for another cake, for a cheap source of milk to go with that cake, for an exercise routine with which to work off the calories taken on eating that cake, or better skills (or equipment) with which to make cakes in the future.

In other words, so long as we’re alive, we’re never satisfied in the finite sense. And whether it’s learning how to make cakes (plural) to the point of being a master of all things pastry, whether it’s developing an exercise routine to compensate for all those slices of cake we eat, whether it’s trying to work out a schedule which will get us to the market on a regular basis to pick up our ingredients (or to the dentist to inspect our teeth, since we’re eating a lot of sugar)…all the processes which connect the initial concept and decision to do something we think would be satisfying with the accomplishment – those processes are Virgo.

(We will now pause while I clean up the kitchen.)

Truly the glitch with Virgo is not carrying through on the job. That can happen when we spin our wheels thinking or talking about the thing instead of doing it, that can happen when we don’t keep ourselves focused enough to carry through and get the project from start to finish…or at least through to where our yeast dough needs to rise for a while.

(I know…that yeast thing applies more to bread than cake, but just go with it please?)

There are those of us who like to be ‘eternally’ doing. They don’t want the job to end. You may have heard of fear of failure, yes? Well the ‘eternal doer’ is another interesting human quirk – namely the fear of not having anything to do.

You’ve maybe heard that Virgo is prone to worry and nattering endlessly over details? This is because Virgo energy is motion oriented. (Just ask my cousin the Virgo who never sits down!)

So as the Sun moves into Virgo on (Wednesday) August 22nd at 5:08 in the evening UT/+0 time, and throughout the solar month of Virgo, there is energy which needs using. It’s a good time to get things done and for figuring out how to get them done well.

Because Mars will be in Scorpio for the whole of this period, there will be opportunities to try things out and test your ideas to see if they’re edible.

Just don’t count on huzzahs and sugary compliments. As an isolated concept Mars in Scorpio represents that challenge to find the way (Mars is always an action verb) to get where we want to go. And at the level of Scorpio doings, there’s always the need to risk approval. Or to not get the response you want – all of which explains why in anything Scorpio we have a tendency to try to control the outcome. Or at least our input!

Whenever Mars transits (the fixed sign of) Scorpio we tend to be very focused – almost to the point of being myopic. We know what we want…with the challenge being whether we can take into account what other people’s aims (wants, values) are in the process of going about our business.

Plus there is that emotion thing, too. Scorpio is a water sign – so what’s at stake is our experience of our emotions. This is one of the really grizzly parts of Scorpio, seeing as that ‘risk’ thing plus the ‘emotion’ thing (which frequently leads to the ‘I’d really like to control what happens here’ thing) tends to have us all doing exactly what we shouldn’t do – that being getting defensive.

In Scorpio, particularly when what’s being put through the Scorpio lens is Mars-type assertions and assertiveness energy, what results is often that oh-so very human ‘I’m right, you’re wrong’ thing.

Or the ‘how DARE you not like this cake I baked!’ thing. Never mind that the person is on a diet…never mind that they may be diabetic and your cake is solid sugar…never mind that they may just have eaten or that your cake is chocolate and they like vanilla…there’s just something about Mars in Scorpio which all too frequently fosters resentment. Or resentment’s snarky cousin, jealousy.

So, elemental baker, don’t be shocked if during the Mars transit of Scorpio….(which runs from 3:23 p.m. on August 23 through 3:22 a.m. on October 7, both times being UT/+0 calculations)…don’t be shocked if someone is jealous of what you’ve done. Or maybe just jealous that you’re doing something when they’re doing nothing even though they know they should be doing something.

And yes, this means that during this period you may feel daunted – even threatened in some obscure way – by someone who is really good or really accomplished in some area which you want to work in your life too.

It’s probably worth mentioning as well that Scorpio is also the ‘middle sign’ of an elemental triad.

That means that Scorpio is also the ‘processing’ sign, and therefore – because it’s a water (i.e., emotional) sign to begin with – it represents the processing of our emotions. (Hence Scorpio’s association with psychology.) And because this means Scorpio would ALSO represent all the things which entice, excite, provoke or evoke those emotions, that would be why Scorpio is the sign of death, taxes, conception, war, inheritances, the grieving process, power struggles, sex, debt, investments, violence…and so on.

So to have two of the five astrological ‘personal planets’ (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars) in signs which are about ‘the process’ or ‘the process of’ or ‘processing’ means there’s a lot going on focus-wise, even in those moment or on days when or if it seems like not a whole heck of a lot is actually happening. In keeping with Sun in Virgo and Mars in Scorpio, these weeks ahead will a time when thinking through all the parameters – and not just yours, but yours and those of the people you’re likely to interact with – is the thing which is going to get you that Mars-in-Scorpio gate pass…approval…reaction you really want.

That Mercury will exit the shadow of its Leo retrograde on (Tuesday) August 21st before the Sun enters Virgo on Wednesday and Mars enters Scorpio on Thursday means we are also moving into a period when new (Mercurial) parameters will be tossed into our hats. With Mercury passing through the latter (3rd decan) degrees of Leo as all these new thoughts, approaches, attitudes and perspectives begin to arise means most of this ‘newness’ is being thrust at us, and the smart money is on listening and not reacting until you’ve figured out where such statements are coming from.

Why do people feel the way they do?

Once Mercury moves into Virgo with September’s arriving we’re all going to be more focused on the details and ‘how to get from here to there’ aspects of life. And that takes us roughly to mid-September, when a handful of other issues arise, all of which seems a bit distant to contemplate at the moment.

However…! One small word to the wise: before a planet changes signs and enters zero of the ‘next’ sign it’s at 29 maximal and critical degrees of the previous sign. That tells us that Tuesday the 21st (of August), which is when Mercury exits its shadow, is also the date of the Sun being at 29 degrees of Leo.

Expect a sense of ‘a push’…or maybe pushy, depending. Self-willed versus artistic versus courageous versus ‘when was it you decided to live in your own private world again?’ will be the theories of the day.

Life is setting us up to be hungry – for something! And life is always so creative!

Then, as the Sun enters Virgo on the 22nd, Mars is at 29 critical degrees of Libra – a curious combination of strong and weak. If you know people who like to undermine and overthrow (just because they can) this is one of those kinds of days. (And yes, they may be acting out!)

This can also be a day when weaknesses come to light. Or when someone overplays their hand.

And the Sun in Virgo now asks: yes, that’s all well and good, but does it work?

Ah yes…Virgo. Here’s to functionality, achieving goals and sharing with others, near and far!

Mercury Exits Retrograde Shadow Tomorrow (May 11, 2011)

If Mercury is exiting the shadow of its March-into-April retrograde tomorrow, why talk about it today?

Simple: because today would be the day when in some areas of life we ‘wrap up’ matters which began back in March…and where in other areas of life we have our last chance to change things which have been hanging on – or which (frankly) we really haven’t wanted to deal with.

That this ‘final moment’ (aka ‘last chance’) idea is so very emphasized by Mars being at the critical ‘do or don’t do’ point of 29 Aries? Considering that means Mars is about to move into Taurus (a passage which typically makes personal change difficult to face, never mind do!) again underscores this Mercury moment as one to be aware of.

So what might this be about? What might you do well to take into account?

The first thing which jumps of the page here is Mercury’s transiting conjunction with Venus and Jupiter. Astrologically this would rather clearly point to discussions and decisions (or the need for) money, an exercise of one’s personal values or a confrontation at some level with how you really feel about who you are.

With Venus and Jupiter united, we have a clear indication of ‘expansion’ – or the desire for more. And with Venus emphasized by the fact it rules  asteroid Niobe’s 29 Libra positioning (in direct opposition to Mars) there is a note of disappointment.

But is that with ‘them’? Or is that with yourself – or what you have perhaps done, chosen or ignored?

This would be a classic sort of moment to expect an ‘I told you so!’ IF Niobe was direct. But Niobe (boastful pride) isn’t direct here. So this is a moment when we reflect. Or when the news comes home that we aren’t ‘all that.’ Or even when what we really need to do is stick our pride in a drawer and do something because it simply needs doing, never mind our blessed ego!

That others or some outside force is involved here – maybe just as a consideration, but certainly as part of the mix - is pretty well underscored by Mercury’s rulership of the South Node in Gemini and Jupiter as ruler of the North Node in Sagittarius. Considering this, the suggestion would probably be more about ‘learning better’ (maybe just ‘learning’) or putting out the effort to do the right thing.

An Aries chart of Mercury exiting its retrograde

shadow (location not specific).

Remembering that the Nodes move backward through the zodiac it’s also reasonable to take note of the idea that said North Node – currently at 23 Sagittarius – will in the tick of a celestial moment move back into 22 Sagittarius, the degree of fixed star Ras Alhague. Known as a difficult star the better side of which involves healing, Ras Alhague’s position in Sagittarius’ 3rd decanate implies some sort of news or notification which though uncomfortable is actually real or true or the way to solve some dilemma, whether we know it (or like it) or not.

Given that we all like the easy way out of things, we’re all likely to ‘want’ to do the South Node thing – which at this point is pictured as a South Node sitting between Arachne (entanglement) and fixed star Bellatrix, emblem of difficult communications.

Maybe the best way to think of this is that Bellatrix (and its neighbor, fixed star Phact) – in being respectfully at 21 and 22 Gemini extend their confounding, confused, often excuse-ridden influence to approximately 26 or 27 Gemini. Meanwhile, fixed star Betelgeuse at 28 Gemini (with an orb which stretches between 23 Gemini and 3 Cancer) overlaps that Bellatrix/Phact ‘district,’ giving us the picture of a period when the easiest thing is to try and avoid problems ‘out there.’ Or situations which would cause us to re-evaluate our relationship with the world. With the Nodes now at 23 Sagittarius and Gemini, a good many of us are going to be clinging to wanting things to be easy while others (and sometimes those self same people!) are also complaining about how nothing’s getting done. How nothing’s changing.

And how it needs to change. The North Node’s perfecting trine to Eris Discord at 22 – a trine which becomes perfected as the North Node solidifies its conjunction with Ras Alhague – that speaks volumes to the fact that our choice is social/societal disruption or renovation. It’s something we each need to think about. And though optimally we would each do our part, it can’t be ‘about’ us. We live in this world – the world doesn’t operate at our behest.

Confuse that, and nothing will change. It may even become something of an excuse to not try, which for some may be the object as the whole idea of looking in the mirror to get a grip on why your own world is so screwed up, messy or problematic is because of your decisions? Or maybe because you won’t stand up and do something about what you say you really stand for?

Complaining? That’s easy now! Mars at 29 Aries is all ripe for fury and Venus in Aries (which is going to continue for a few days yet) is notoriously a time when our difficulties with the world get translated as being about ‘them’ and not about how we have chosen much of what we have and in some measure the path we’re currently on.

Can we change that? Yes! That’s a whole other side of this whole configuration and it would be a great moment to commit – at least to yourself – that you indeed intend to dedicate yourself to growing or changing your life.

Tomorrow…as Mercury exits its shadow and as Mars enters Taurus, those who don’t have a thought or a plan or a handle on how their choices create their results. They’re going to be the ones who experience the classically Mars-in-Taurus ‘sticky wicket’ thing. Those who have a plan, who are working towards their goals, they will make slow progress. It won’t be easy, it may not be all rose petals, champagne and fun, but advances can get made and much depends on what you decide you are willing to do, become, and let go of.

That would be the contemplation for today and as we head not just into tomorrow, but into all our tomorrows.