Venus in Sagittarius / Neptune Direct

The painted image is the 'Venus Anadynomene' or 'Venus of the Sea'

by Théodore Chasseriau (1838). The photo behind it is one of Planet

Neptune - the credit for which goes to NASA and JPL

There’s something definitely thematic about any connection of Neptune and Venus. It’s a combination which evokes something friendly...pleasant and nice - or at least nice looking. Such niceness could amount to relaxation... or really any form of the proverbial ‘nice day.’ Or it could manifest in the form of interactions which warm... but don’t overheat one’s heart.

Yes, it’s an interesting combination, what with Venus being the symbol of wanting a result (and which ‘does’ to produce results or responses) paired Neptune - the symbol of all which requires us to accept everything simply for what it is, warts and all.

Yet these two planets are not really being ‘synced’ here. Venus is entering Sagittarius at 19:05 (7:05 p.m.) UT/+0 time on November 16th, and yes, it will already be in orb to square Neptune as Neptune goes direct at 4 degrees of Pisces at 7:07 in the morning (UT/+0) of that very same day.

 Aries Wheel - Location Not Specific

  Aries Wheel - Location Not Specific

And yes, 4 Pisces is the exact current position of fixed and royal star Fomalhaut. So this is not your ordinary Neptune station... (as if any Neptune station by definition would be “ordinary”?)

For one, the effects will be both more cloudy and more inspirational... more brilliant and yet less definable and highly experiential - which means no two of us is going to be exactly on the same page as Neptune goes direct - a fact which is interesting to think about in today’s world as this Neptune station falls on a weekend when many a world leader is joining in conference at the G20 World Summit in Brisbane, Australia.

Chart cast for Brisbane, Australia - Placidus houses

 

Chart cast for Brisbane, Australia - Placidus houses

With Neptune’s moment of station/direct falling in the 10th house at this location, this is indeed a world event and the inevitable news coverage which attends any such gathering will have a Neptune-in-10 ability to reach extraordinarily far with an equally well-known Neptune ability to be misunderstood going right along with that.

And let us just note for the record: where Neptune is concerned, sometimes the misunderstanding is willing...and sometimes a mistake is just a mistake.

Will you know? Will anyone be sure? Probably not. They my think they are, but in time the shine of any event marked by a Neptune station will dim...just as Neptune will dissolve the need or even any desire to see things in other than the simplest of human and mortal terms.

So saying, back to Venus...specifically more to the technical side of things. Since Neptune is at 4 Pisces, Venus will have come into orb of that square when Venus entered 29 Sagittarius, a degree known for its physical qualities and/or an interest in physicality, all of which can be challenged or even defeated by actions which if not sufficiently mature/matured or understood in both long and short terms can lead to some sort of stress which undermines or defeats the original purpose.

For some, this becomes the time when those problems begin fading away - though why they’re fading away makes all the difference, especially if that ‘why’ has anything to do with ‘taking the easy way out’ - and that goes double if what we’re trying to avoid is less the ‘thing’ is in progress and truly about our inability to face feeling defeated in our own right.

Or at least in terms of what we were thinking was right.

Venus will not end this transiting square to Neptune until November 22nd, which (surprise!) is the date when the Sun shows up in Sagittarius wearing the guise of a New Moon - which means that about the time that life [the Sun] shifts from psycho-squishy, self-reflective intensity of Scorpio into the wide and variable Sagittarian realm of all we imagine against all we need to live with...as that clarity ‘hits,’ so too will melt a least a few of the veneers forged now as factual necessity requires more focus on some goal.

Sagittarius being a fire sign, there is a speculative to quality to much which gets done between November 16th and December 10th, when Venus moves on into Capricorn.

And yes, there will also be a tendency to speculate - in private or in public. With Sagittarius being a sign known for ‘getting the word out’ and other forms of dispersion or dissemination (anything media and any sort of ‘taking a stand’ works here) there is much which is worthwhile to do and pick out of the milling throngs.

There is also likely to be a deal of pontificating, grandstanding and out-and-out fabricating - which may refer to a production or may be that which is more commonly known in non-Venusian circles as lying.

Whatever happens now, it’s ‘reality’ of the moment (and maybe its forever) is likely to be at some very real level, intangible. So this is a good Venus time for promoting something which will turn into something, but has some distance yet to go.

And maybe grow.

As for Neptune, the station at 4 Pisces brings us two very different perspectives on lore which suggests a spiritual, mystical, almost magically unfettered perception which, even while being unbounded, is simultaneously anchored in some very static form or position from which all is viewed or processed.

And yes, that is apart from royal/fixed star Fomalhaut’s presence at 4 Pisces, a presence which to the above adds the warning that only that which is neither corrupt nor corruptive brings success.

In Pisces, this refers to many things - all of which are about our willingness to a.) face our own emotions and b.) the willingness to accept that we are who we are, with all our good parts and all our icky bits. Whether our issue is accepting our mortality, our existence as one among countless equally human beings or feelings which reflect some unwillingness to face the uncertainty of existence, Pisces tests it all - and Fomalhaut’s long-term residence at 4 Pisces is ensuring that life continues successfully (which is a different thing than if I typed ‘...is ensuring that life continues successfully...’) is our warning that success  - which in Piscean terms would amount to peace of both the emotional and worldly type no matter how that manifests - can only be achieved when what we are doing is neither divisive under Piscean definitions nor inhumane or an expression of our own inability to be equally human to ourselves and others.

As for what being divisive in Pisces would be, that would involve divisions of direction - either a conflict of Self or acceptance of exclusionary dynamics... which is to say the human art of trying to shape life according to what we like, not what would be most supportive (and least harmful) to all and everything involved, particularly as that applies on the universal level (whether we see that ‘universal’ terms as being human, global-and-planetary or simply personal.

All of this is now subject to Neptune’s famously unpredictable and utterly ill-defined effects. Neptune is the mist, the fog, the emotional and sometimes physical toxicity which subtly overwhelms us, sometimes ‘looking’ (and feeling) worse than it actually is, and sometimes looking perfectly fine in moments when all is far from fine (and far from  understood). Representing everything from the giddiness which distracts to the façade which hides or belies, Neptune is the heart and soul of all we love to watch with fascination and equally associated with that which is utterly unreal.

To inspire, to deny, to enthrall, to assuage, to dissolve - Neptune symbolizes it all. When we proceed because we have faith but no knowledge, that is Neptunian. When we abandon reason for convictions based on longing, that’s Neptune. Neptune symbolizes that which carries us away in a tidal wave of emotion and the water which carriers us away in a flood or tsunami... its forces - whatever they may be - those Neptunian energetics will never be denied.

So...will we be overwhelmed by what we haven’t known and now do? Will we be inspired to see something new - some new vision - which will of its own accord release us from some bond which unbeknownst to us has been our way of holding ourselves back?

Have we even known what we want or why we want it? Is it thing we want - or are we more afraid of feeling what we would think of our Self if we didn’t get there or achieve that?

The Sabian symbol for 4 Pisces being ‘A church bazaar’ we know there are multiple factors and facets to that which is going on now, much of which is going to come or be provided by various sources (human or otherwise) united by function and belief in various forms of ‘transacting’ (or trading) which when entered into on the basis of Fomalhaut’s requirements (honesty, integrity, etc.) have the potential to inspire equitable agreements and feelings that ‘all is right with the world.’

(And wouldn’t we all like that?)

However...! (Yes, this is the near-obligatory ‘however’) There are a few configurations which in being active during Neptune’s station become part of the general aura, the first of which describes a grand trine:

On the Aries ‘me’ side we have the South Node conjunct Pandora at the end of Aries’ second decan (the teen degrees) - with both of those conjunct Eris. Pandora gives us the option between disaster and hope which in conjunction with the South Node (the easy thing) will refer to qualities we encounter and which are exhibited in/through relationships - the nodes always refer to our ‘intersecting’ with something, be it our ambitions, human others or the world.

Currently in retrograde, Eris is operating internally - which is to say there is a lot inside each and every one of us which is ripe for getting triggered, whether for good, bad or indifferent. Known sometimes as ‘Discordia,’ dwarf planet Eris represents potent moments and periods when status quos get ‘disrupted’ - sometimes unpleasantly and sometimes entirely for the good.

That these three points are connecting in Aries speaks to a great deal of emotional energy and conviction being aroused. As part of a grand trine, these feelings are ‘circulating’ in a manner which seems to have a (fire sign) life of its own.

Does it? Well, maybe yes, may be no. With Niobe and Jupiter in the latter third of Leo there are those who have something to be proud of and those who are merely proud - maybe for perfectly valid reasons and maybe...well, otherwise. Those accomplishments which can stand on their own however, like as not will whereas energy being invested (or vested) in boasting - or that which is boastful by nature - is likely to get [Niobe] ‘shot down.’

Or maybe we’re the shooter. Or perhaps that which is continuing to (Eris) rouse us is something about which we are right on target.

Remember: all astrological influences are capable of acting/reacting at either end of any spectrum - the fun and fabulous or the rancid and wretched. Some have marked tendencies to flow one way or the other - and with any symbol presented in a fire sign the thing to ‘fight off’ or ‘douse’ is the tendency to live, operate or think of the (fiery) vision as real instead of the aim, goal or motivation.

It’s not that the vision is bad - or even incorrect. It’s that you have to get there, which means seeing the real path before our real and tender everyday toes which really hate getting stubbed.

Especially as it’s that stubbing which (when all else fails) tends to ‘inflict’ enough reality that the very act of working to return to the dream generally gets some job done.

Or at least begun.

In the end however it’s probably the Ixion-Pholus coming from the Sagittarius quadrant which represents some sort of sand in a sandwich (or fly in the ointment) of ongoing, trine-like dynamics. As both Pholus and Ixion are centaurs, the reference is one which speaks of the difference between ‘should’ and ‘preference’ with both points known for instincts which spell defeats and losses which either spell the end (death) of certain attributes or being eternally ‘stuck’ with the folly of our blindness to others - that being a prime quality which unifies these points.

Add to that Vesta-Eurydike (the cost/price of a promise or commitment) which is encountered in a public and interactive (Sagittarian) space and this grand trine has all the markings of having to do want to do or stay with something despite all.

And despite what may be a desire to opt out. Grand trines don’t allow for any opting out...or opting in, either.

Yet there is a curious quality to Neptunian periods... while all this may be true going into Neptune’s station - it all may have changed by the time the station ends. The metaphysical Neptune points us to whatever will inspire us and open us up to possibilities. It’s also about all which may cloud our thinking - or why our thinking is clouded. Neptune stations sometimes mark the passing up of opportunities and sometimes mark the unbidden gift or miraculous happening.

But most of all it’s about the difference between reality and our beliefs, and how when we allow ourselves to believe in believing to the point where we get out-of-balance with our reality, problems arise and we end up feeling disappointed - most of all with our Self for not having been realistic.

Yet...is it realistic to think as humans we will never do such things?

In the end the distance between the blessings and woes of Neptune are simply about us. Where and when we believe in any belief more than reality, reality will let us down.

It’s cause-effect: we’re not believing in reality - it therefore doesn’t believe much in us.

Speaking of which, the other configuration occurring at this station is a Yod, that very special configuration which points to a lot of adjustment, generally - at least initially - of the internal and personal sort.

Composed of two 150-degree inconjuncts which  focus on a single point at one end and which are 60 degrees apart at the other, Yods often manifest by causing us to recognize or feel that there are certain limitations or boundaries which need to be observed while continuing on with our aims. In this particular figure those boundaries are represented by Chiron in Pisces (not knowing how to feel, whether that pertains to indecision or some sort of lack of experience) and Pluto-Mars-fixed star Vega in Capricorn, a conglomeration of highly dynamic and possibly highly difficult (even dangerous) energy which while full capable of marking a striking turn to the positive is also capable of manifesting as (or through) figures and events of darkly fascinating quality which wreak much destruction and indiscriminate, long-term havoc.

Occurring in Capricorn, the source and aim are both  structural, and with all three points appearing in ‘teen degrees, many people (and entities) will be exhibiting much determination and drive.

But remember: this is a Neptune station. In terms of astrological ‘ranking’ Neptune’s station, especially as it is happening in conjunction with Fomalhaut ‘outweighs’ all else. So while there is much determination, where, if and to the extent that such determinations or beliefs in positions are based on, in or through arrogance or egotism, they will eventually either come to be transformed... or they’re basically a zilch-zero-nada sum effort.

They may also be a feint. Just as Neptune can lure us to belief some illusion(ary belief), Neptune also often manifests in a ‘performance,’ though not of the ‘celebrate me’ type. Great artists often have Neptune prominent (or at least strikingly placed) in their natal charts - Neptune in this sense marks the difference between ‘celebrity’ and ‘artistry.’ The fame of Neptune is not that which appears in the tabloids - it’s the embodiment of the human experience in some iconic form or moment which stirs others.

Neptune cannot be profited on - at least not directly. When it does, when anything metaphysically Neptunian moves from being ‘the gift’ to being something meant to affect others the way you want them to be affected, that’s the quality of astrological ego which Neptune affects. And just to make the point here (considering everything going on in the world), as outcome ruler of Pisces, Neptune will mark outcomes in the fields of petroleum (and all which comes of oil, such as plastics), caregivers (be they medical, spiritual or familial), all things intoxicating and/or toxic (including their industries), entertainment, pharmaceuticals (at all levels, pro and con) and the very quality of having or needing to have faith.

The good news with a Yod is that it furnishes us with a ‘solution’ point. The not so lovely news is that those solution points occur in opposition to what we instinctively think we should do - that being why Yods have such an unsettled reputation.

Yes, we humans want answers. But when we get pointed to the answer we request, often we protest because that’s not the answer we want...which in reality means we didn’t want an ‘answer’ at all - we wanted our position and belief to be validated.

And sometimes there the answer is ‘no’ - and at the moment in particular is going to be ‘no’ because there’s too much ego being vested, or already invested.

Neptune will not honor ego - and at this time, with all the best intentions in the world a lot of people are going to be standing on the 13 Leo/Juno side of some matter when for best results they should be taking a more 13 Aquarius point of view.

Juno seeks to manage. And since 13 Leo is known to exhibit qualities of truly vast stubbornness, either people will seek to control (manage) their own stubbornness or they will ‘manage’ to create serious difficulties which they must then manage in terms of 13 Aquarius, that being a degree which insists that differences be noted, understood and respected.

From France's Chartres Cathedral, the symbol of Pisces showing its two fish

heading in different directions while eternally connected by a golden

cord rendered in stained glass. (photographer unknown.)

All of this is now being framed both in terms of the current Neptune station... and as part of the solidification of the incoming Aquarian Age as the Piscean Age ends - which is part of the challenges of today and for decades yet to come.

Put simply, people born under one Age know their lives to be one way. They “grew up that way” - which has over the 2,160 years of Piscean Age life come to be a lot of involuntary two-tier versions of life, thought, belief and everything else. It’s this ‘us versus them’ quality which Aquarius seeks to abolish, whether the subject is wealth, power or the essential necessity to acknowledge truths as truths despite alternate desires, instincts or preferences.

That which was accepted or acceptable under the Piscean Age is under scrutiny. Some of it at least is going to be melted away.

That’s a Neptune process, which is why during these years we are passing through every ‘Neptune event’ on the celestial list is going to be of elevated importance, with the current edition (the Fomalhaut station) being written in big and bold.

The last note here is a likeable one - the fact that the Leonids will be showering Earth with meteoric streaks and sparkles from November 15th through 20th.

A Leonid meteor streaks across the sky

(photo credit: Tushar N Dadarwala, January 2012)

As with every meteor shower, the Leonids represent ‘sparks’ and ‘being sparked,’ whether by  love, by ideas, by insights or sudden realizations which give rise to different perspectives. With the Sun, Saturn and Mercury still in Scorpio, such insights are likely to be sharp - and perhaps part of a process whereby some Neptune veil is ‘cut away’ either revealing something which is no longer needed either in light of something else which takes priority...or because we are now able to recognize and 'defuse' the emotional need which made something seem the only acceptable result.

And of course there will be a few who will decide to dedicate themselves to whatever ‘cutting abilities’ they think will puncture the dreams of others. One of the metaphysical reasons we’re seeing so much violence right now is exactly about this - but not as most people expect.

Under Aquarius, the issue with equality is not the weakness of the ‘underdog’ as it has been throughout the Age of Pisces, but rather with the other side of the 'equation' not wanting to be equal.

The upheavals we are experiencing and seeing all around us amount to simply this. Throughout the Age of Pisces, emotional waters were constantly seeking their own level.

Now those waters are evaporating into air - Aquarian air, to be exact. And if Aquarius is now on the first house of the Age, that means Pisces - and therefore Neptune - is delivering results which pertain to our values.

And our possible lack of values.

And all those things which we think so valuable when in reality they're merely personal illusions. 

We're in a period of re-education. We have things to learn and things to unlearn. As a sign, Aquarius says yes, we can have, learn and function as we want, so long as the need is there that we are fulfilling through our choices.

As for the reward, we can have what we want - we just have to be that person who would be given or awarded what we want by others.

And that may...or may not be who we are in our current reality.
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Humans, Meet Comet

A 4-photo mosaic of Comet 67P as photographed on 19 September 2014

by the Rosetta spacecraft from 28.6 km away from the comet's center

(photo credit: ESA/European Space Agency)

By now most of us have heard that ESA’s Rosetta mission has put its Philae landing craft on the surface of a comet.

The comet’s name is Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P to its friends). It’s not an excessively large object, which makes the feat of catching up and syncing with it quite an amazing feat.
Space is a very big place. Moreover, it’s not a very forgiving place even for those not watching out for aliens and possible science fiction-like villains. So applause to the European Space Agency team which threaded the proverbial space needle.

(No, not the one in Seattle.)

Seattle's Space Needle was built for the 1962 World's Fair. Standing 605 feet

(184 meters) tall, it affords people an amazing view while testing their

relationship to heights. (Yes, I've been there!)

(photo credit Jordon Kalilich, July 2011)

Word of the successful connecting of spacecraft to comet was simultaneously received here on Earth at 16:03 (4:03 p.m.) by two receiving stations -  ESA’s facility in Malarque, Argentina and NASA’s in Madrid, Spain - and confirmed by ESA’s operations center in Darmstadt, Germany, which gives us the following chart...

Rosetta Lands on Comet

November 12, 2014 - 16:03 (4:03 p.m.) GMT /17:03 (5:03) Darmstadt, Germany

(glyph chart)

Rosetta Lands on Comet

November 12, 2014 - 16:03 (4:03 p.m.) GMT /17:03 (5:03) Darmstadt, Germany

(text chart)

...a chart which is rather fabulously interesting for two reasons. The first is that this chart has 28 degrees of fixed signs on all four axis points - which is a lovely sort of comment on ‘affixing’ the spacecraft to the comet, as it evidently had to ‘hook on’ using some sort of harpoon-like device. Moreover, since 28 degrees of any sign is receptive  by nature (odd numbers initiate, even numbers receive-respond) this is a quite sensible human undercurrent saying ‘we did it!’... which is more about us (humankind) than anything else. Humans need validation. We need to know we’re capable and we need proof of it at least every once in a while.

In action, fixed signs tend to ‘glue things down’ - and validate the completion. With Sedna just behind the Ascendant, this is something of a ‘letting go’ of ideas of ourselves we have had up to this point. This is a maturation - and an event which for some reason is going to ask that we (Ascendant) act with (Sedna) the kind of ‘mature awareness’ about the fact that this achievement, for all that it is something long-dreamed of (it took 10 years for Rosetta to reach the comet) there is still much to be learned.

But that Saturn-Descendant-Venus in Scorpio trining the Moon placed barely minutes shy of the Nadir (IC) of this chart? That is mankind standing on its planet - Earth - recognizing their own abilities.

Cancer - the sign the Moon rules - is also on both the third house of communications and fourth house of nation, native populations and planet. So there’s a lot to think about. We’ve taken a solid step, but there’s still much to be learned. That Saturn (representing time) and Venus (symbolizing results) are at the Descendant (and in delay-friendly Scorpio) also speaks to more than 28 degrees of Scorpio (a display of mastery) here being just about ‘putting the word’ out about the landing. That’s valid certainly as a start, but what this also speaks to is the idea that there will be some delays in ‘capitalizing’ on what is learned from this mission, as well as the fact that what does come to be learned will be/become useful over a rather extended period.

Beyond that, there’s an interesting metaphysical tie to comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s discovery chart, timing the chart to noon as a worldly event applying to all:

Discovery of Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P)

September 20, 1969 - noon (USZ5/-6) - Almaty Kazakhstan

(glyph chart)

Discovery of Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P)

September 20, 1969 - noon (USZ5/-6) - Almaty Kazakhstan

(text chart)

See that rising at 28 degrees of Scorpio - and Neptune right behind that Ascendant?

Neptune is going direct in just a few days - the post on same will be the next one up here at the blog. As for 28 Scorpio, Saturn is going to be arriving at 28 degrees of Scorpio in just a couple of weeks - and that happens exactly as Jupiter goes retrograde on December 6th.

Things are tying together. To ‘rank’ this astrologically, the nature of life is that we will all be paying more attention to the Saturn-Jupiter end of things simply because Saturn and Jupiter represent attributes like making an effort, holding to your plan, learning more or better, recognizing right from wrong ...things we can (and probably should) opt to do every day. Neptune isn’t like that. Neptune is not just ill-defined, it’s not supposed to be defined - a quality which has led me to many an odd question and answer with friend, acquaintance and client.

(Them) I don’t like Neptune

(Me) No one likes Neptune. It's a good thing Neptune doesn't mind.

(Them) No...you don’t understand. I NEED to know what things are. Isn’t there any way to be sure under a Neptune transit?

(Me) Sorry, but by the time you know what something is, it’s no longer astrologically Neptune. Definitions are Saturn.

On the other hand, Neptune IS the biggest dog on this planetary block when seen in astrological order. Saturn may symbolize time and all we come to build in our lives but Neptune is the inevitable understanding that nothing is permanent or entirely predictable, if only because in order to predict something we would need to invest our ego in the prediction and Neptune negates ego and acts or choices inspired by or made under the auspices of ego.

Lest you think this Neptunian effect is being overly stressed here, there’s one more item which at least from the astrological perspective is highly noteworthy when it comes to this Rosetta event, and that would come from the launch chart:

Rosetta Launch

March 2, 2004 - noon (BZT2/+3) - Kourou, French Guiana

(glyph chart)

Rosetta Launch

March 2, 2004 - noon (BZT2/+3) - Kourou, French Guiana

(text chart)

Don’t be fooled here - there are squares and such in this chart as well, but with only sextiles and trines showing the presence of a Grand Sextile (which by definition will include two grand trines and six kites) in a launch chart which in having Jupiter in opposition to Sun/Mercury is nothing if not man seeking inspiration and knowledge from the heavens.

There’s just one thing: that which comes out of a Grand Sextile is seldom what we think. So while this Grand Sextile did play out as a 'grand opportunity' (sextiles=opportunities) to begin yet another phase of space exploration, Grand Sextiles are not only metaphysical but spiritual images which speak to actions we will take which lead us to understand both our capacities (as in this landing) and the idea that what we have done...or who we are, individually or as the inhabitants of a planet...is but a very small part of all which there is and that we are all subject to That Which Is - the forces of Jupiterian growth, Saturnine time and both our Neptunian goodness and an equally subversive human desire to be held wholly and humanely harmless despite the ravages of our ego.

So now we've been validated as a race. We're feeling a bit more accomplished and capable about ourselves.

What does that mean we're going to learn next?
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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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Neptune Directions: Right vs Real

Ephiphanie

A triptychon by Hieronymus Bosch (1475-1499)

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Just about the time we feel like we’re going to move on and get past whatever we’ve been dealing with, suddenly life takes a turn.

No, you’re not so sure, life says. So are you sure you want to…(choice of one or more: let go of, start to do, look at, talk about, ignore, go about being)…that?

There are two sets of metaphysical concepts involved here…the first being all about our relationship to reality. Do we see only that part of life we want to see? If so, why would we do that?

Whatever your coping mechanism (and we all have one or two)(or three or four)…the ‘why’ behind why you even need to cope is the sort of discomfort with how you feel about life which is plainly and uniquely Piscean.

It’s also 12th house. And yes, sort of Neptunian.

In this triad, Neptune is the verb – the ‘to 12th house’ where the 12th house (of any chart) is where the sign on the cusp describes the situations we set up in life in order to test our own vulnerabilities.

Why would we do that?

Answer: so as to grow. There is a wellspring of spirit of life seeking to exist which animates our existence in this time and moment. And that quotient both knows that we can survive most of what we fear and that we need fears. Fears are what allow us to feel ourselves feeling our feelings and reacting in real time…and in highly memorable ways.

We learn a lot through reflecting on own own emotions. Good or bad, we learn.

Considering how Neptune is going direct so soon after the Scorpio solar eclipse, whatever else is happening in your life it is likely that ‘structures’ are now beginning to crumble or become (at some level) less viable. Or maybe less ‘strict’ by definition.

In fact, Neptune going direct about a week after Jupiter goes retrograde is somewhat akin to whatever process in life is melting (Neptune) away some of the barriers which have stood in your way.

And yet…at the same time, that very same Neptune-Jupiter relationship also recalls some of the ‘unveiling’ qualities which suggest we may (Jupiter retrograde) learn something worth thinking about… often through others.

Probably most tempting-taunting-beckoning of all, however is the fact that Neptune is going direct on November 13th with Mercury having gone direct on the 10th.

This sort of begs a personal question: are you on the verge of creating something magical? Or maybe you’re someone poised to experience several very personal-feeling days where you find out you’ve lied…most of all to yourself…about something.

Oh, the good and bad of life. How often they coincide.

(Augh.)

(Yes, I just had to slip that in.)

Mercury-Neptune connections are famous for illusions, delusions, lies and deceptions. But all is not lost here: Mercury-Neptune…especially as presented here in Scorpio (Mercury) and Pisces (Neptune) is equally a representation of deep, emotionally resonant,

And this is no entirely uncommon common water sign trine we’re talking about, neither. No…this one i s where both participants are at 2 degrees of respective signs.

So…whatever else happened between…well, between November 8th and 15th (taking both stations into account)…it would be likely for these days to just feel personal. Everything may feel like it’s a critique. Or maybe you’re feeling the tug (good or bad) of everybody needing you. Or maybe you’re behind on things you had wanted to get done by now.

Some of us will experience these days as frustration, others as a revelation. Some of us will go through these days just happy to be reasonably invisible. Neptune-Mercury effects can herald the terribly good day, the inordinately magical day, the utterly helpless-feeling time.

It all depends on where 2 Pisces (Neptune’s position) and 2 Scorpio (Mercury’s degree of station) fall in your personal chart. And where both planets are in said natal chart.

Beyond that, there is the matter that Neptune is also in opposition to Pallas going into this station – with Pallas having entered Virgo just as the eclipse moved through.

It would seem to be a time which is whispering to us about all and everything we need to be smarter about with regards to the ‘who it is’ we’re being.

And how important it is to be that person not superficially, but genuinely – at your core, no matter how difficult that feels like it is.

One way or another, we’re going to get there. With and within the uncertainty and illusory delights of a Neptune station so closely associated with the kind of human ties emotional…evocative…thought provoking…which we experience with-and-through our ties to others now, at this turn of a Mercurial tide…

It could be one or many things. You may become overly aware that your life is driven by one or many things…and how some of them are assumptions.

Or realities never dealt with properly as realities. Wherever we have kidded ourselves, particularly where that concerns relationships and what parts of our own psyche we are willing to experience through our relationships with others…maybe not the actual situation, but the feelings which remind you of ‘something else’ now echo again through life.

It’s a freshly bitter rain. There are times when we need to be strung along the ragged edges of our soul so that we can experience growing up through coping with trials and disappointments, whether big or small.

As represented by Ceres at 3 Libra, plans (Ceres) now reach a moment of (Neptunian) uncertainty. There are lots of questions you could ask yourself about your uncertainty, yes. I suggest putting ‘what can I learn which will help me going forward through not just the responses I get, but who I get them from?’ on the list.

The other way to see this is in the Neptune-to-Ceres (8th derivation) sort of way. There, all Neptune’s ‘dissolving’ qualities would seem to be highlighted in a (Pisces)water-on-air(Libra) sort of way.

Water, meaning emotion...plus air, meaning communication?

One wonders what will come of that. I could hope for plans on how to deal with feelings or feelings about things, but how many people are actually that constructive that often?

I can hope, yes.

And yet, having learned so painfully and completely that even someone with strikingly good intentions can fall off the face of their personal Earth when they least expect it…I wonder.

Mercury in Scorpio expresses a certain kind of strength, a certain kind of emotional strength with others and with ourselves. Theoretically, we are now capable of great achievements moving forward providing and to the degree that we are willing to get our Neptunian ego – including ego-driven fears for/about Self – under control.

Or better yet, released. You know, so we can fly away on our own wings, wings unencumbered by our own sense of the improbable reduced to impossible by our unwillingness to try. 

Though a graveyard is just another piece of land, the feelings about them and the

indescribable senses we get when walking through one are very real... and very Neptunian.

(photo credit: an Easton Maudit church yard by R. Neil Marshman, November 2005)

The thing hardly anyone talks about when they talk about Neptune is its relationship to Saturn. I wasn’t surprised when NASA (bless their chip-driven heart) released news that Neptune has rings. And I don’t have to do a bunch of fancy math, though you know me, I’m devilish.

Maybe my favorite portrayal of the Devil ever to grace the silver screen, the above photo is Elizabeth Hurley as the satanic one in the Warner Bros/Regency film

'Bedazzled.' I'm pretty sure every woman has wanted to be her kind of

Devil at some point!

I like a fair slosh of math here and again, just to wallow in the glory of universal communication. (But I do know – generally – that that’s just me. I’m muy geeky. About my only question there is whether I’m a nerdy geek or a geeky nerd.)

Back to the metaphysical point, a point maybe best illustrated by a question I fielded years ago (and yes, I still remember it) about the ‘allowing yourself not to know’ quality which is so very and innately Neptunian.

Question: can’t we ever know anything Neptunian?

Answer: No. Once we can identify it, it’s no longer a Neptunian precept – it’s Saturnine. Neptune is ‘non-reality’ and Saturn represents reality and all you ‘know’ as real…right down to the realities of life created through how well or how badly aligned we are with others in relationship/s (….which would be why Saturn is exalted in Libra and the “LIbran” 7th).

This is the concept which defines this time as a time when nothing is really….defined. It’s all in flux. 
Everything is up for being…redefined.

And that’s just the thing – this is a time about the flexing and the fluctuating, the eternally knowing that you’re about to know how to make ‘it’ work…with only the barest sparkle of humor most painful at the thought that in you dedication you may also be seeding, building and carefully tending to that which will blossom into your very worst friend.

You just don’t know. None of us knows – that’s the Neptune issue. So long as we are focusing on our Self (or that which will benefit that Self) Neptune becomes the soggy mass of self-tying rope which has just planted itself around our feet.

So maybe you really want everything to not only just be right and run right and go right and feel right (and all that)…but that doesn’t look to be the undercurrent of most of what life is likely to handle us in this next little while.

Yes, for some of us this station will represent the sure and final finish to some process which has (probably) been dragging on and causing much angst. Maybe even just more burden to your schedule – whatever. I have one friend who got a languishing, lingering, really unhappy-making court matter settle as Mercury went into retrograde and the paperwork will now be settling out. The issue which brought about that lawsuit is finally over. As soon as the last envelope finds its file, the entire matter begins to melt away into memory.

That’s the sort of ‘before’ which dissolves now, leaving room for…

….well, that’s up to you. Once Neptune goes direct, our lives can become however much more we want them to be. They can grow and blossom and expand to include vistas only before suspected until now.

For that to happen, all we have to do is learn to tolerate more of life than we deal with now. We have to be willing to experience it and then (as if that’s not enough) also be willing to think it through and learn something, from which we release our boundaries on what can or “should” be.
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