November 7-16: Kallisto, Mercury, Damocles, Nessus and the Leonid Meteor Shower

The Leonid meteor shower as photographed from space

(photo credit: NASA, JPL, February 2005)

Barely in the wake of November 6th’s Full Moon, asteroid Kallisto goes direct. That it does so in Aquarius suggests that the message (or ‘experience’) of Kallisto is something we will experience either very much with others - or in a sense of isolation as we oppose or are opposed by others. As a symbol of the need to endure and the reality that sometimes the thing we must endure is not of our making, Kallisto sometimes represents patience and sometimes represents durability, dedication or adherence to a thought, cause or needed activity or action.

And then sometimes Kallisto represents that force - be it something which happens (the ‘force’ of an event) or the fact that something we have tried to change, or even which we depend on, how despite all that external status quo (or resistance) is holding out or holding fast against all which is being thrown against it.

Landscape with goddesses Diana and Kallisto by Cornelis van Poelenburgh (17th century)

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As for the degree Kallisto is going direct at, that would be 21 Pisces, a degree which simply because it’s a third decan degree between 20 and 29 of some sign cannot be purely personal: there is some quality of influence or interaction, whether responded to or not, with a bit of emphasis here on the ‘responded to’ sign as all odd-numbered degrees have a subtle tendency to assert or take independent action where even-numbered degrees are shaded slightly towards responding to current input from the environment.

In the case of this particular Piscean degree however, this tendency to act is somewhat muted...even convoluted by the instinct to plan - even to deceive, though as this degree functions through a framework of time, such deceptions are more likely to end up being us fooling ourselves, not others.

Whether this has to do with something in the moment or something from long ago which is affecting current thinking or choices...that’s all individual - as is our tendency to cling to truths as opposed to myths we prefer to believe - or are even afraid to not believe.

And that’s just where this week of days start. As we move from date to date and day to day things are unlikely to get a whole lot more clear or clearly clarified, and for a lot of people that is going to be confusing, frustrating and disappointing - even as others are feeling elated, excited and delighted...with none of it pertaining to reality or fact.

The reason for that would be Planet Neptune, which in going direct early on the 16th (early in the UT/+0 time zone, that is) is providing us with a marker which asks us to allow ourselves not to know...and which tests how well we are equipped to deal with not knowing.

In theory, what this describes is a situation where all the confusion or excitement, the discouragement or idealization is a point of view and perspective, sure enough - but where it also may well be all and only about our desire to feel what we want to feel and to not feel what we would simply hate to feel.

About our Self, that is - and that note is provided by the fact that Neptune is going direct at 4 Pisces, a degree which on its own is about our individual ability to face and deal with our own emotions (part one) and with the fact that we are one human being amidst a sea of life, human and otherwise, on this planet.

How do we feel about that?

Even more importantly - and more to the point of Pisces, how do we feel ABOUT how we feel about that?

Pisces is so often an endless hall of emotional mirrors. We feel, we feel ourselves feeling, we sense the feelings of others and feel for them even as we feel ourselves sensing how mortal, how human this business of feeling really is. Emotions can be enriching. Emotions can also be innately deadly.

Emotions are human - and in going direct at 4 Pisces, Neptune is dissolving our barriers and removing that which stands in the way of our coming to some greater understanding of how intrinsically emotional we are...And how emotions and our willingness to feel feelings, good and bad, ours or those of others...to some very great extent define both the grief of our mortality and the potential for glorious goodness which is part of our humanity.

And as that happens, our mistakes and achievements become more real simply because Neptune is going direct at 4 Pisces, that being the current position of fixed and royal star Fomalhaut.

You remember Fomalhaut, right? The star which promises success only if our aims (dreams, efforts, feelings, etc.) are neither corruptive, corrupted, coercive, corroded or corrosive?

(Yes, I majored in Thesaurus - you have no idea.)

This Neptune station, occurring exactly at the royal star’s position is likely to be a stirring occasion (all puns and realities intended)... hence the extended period of affect and a very strong likelihood that things which are revealed during this time (and just after Neptune’s station) will have long-term and lasting effects.

Kallisto goes direct on November 6th - and just over twenty-four hours later (at 23:10 or 11:10 p.m., UT/+0 on the 7th) Mercury re-enters Scorpio.

To recall for a moment: Mercury originally entered Scorpio (this year, that is) back on September 27th before going retrograde at 2 Scorpio on September 4th. And when Mercury went into that retrograde, it did so while trining Neptune, which makes this incoming Mercury moment part of an entire cycle which questions illusion, self-delusion and through eliciting our tendencies to opt for what we want (or consider correct), our ability to require of Self that we don’t choose based on emotion rather than fact.

When we ignore that... when or where we do choose or attempt to get others to choose based solely on some feeling... those actions will backfire and undermine or defeat us. Maybe not immediately, but in time... and probably lastingly.

This station is Neptune’s last exact conjunction with Fomalhaut for the next 160-plus years. Where the lesson is ours to learn, such ‘last passes’ tend to exacerbate issues more than otherwise, even without our having just experienced a solar eclipse which at 0 Scorpio would be very much in trine to Neptune’s station - a factor which enhances both the duration and likely effects of this station. So we should expect to see, hear and feel variable behaviors which overlie, betray or reveal vulnerabilities both in those on the ‘doing end’ and those on receiving ends of various things. We should expect an unwavering if indistinct (and virtually impossible to describe) sense that we’re not ‘in charge’ where we most sincerely (even desperately) want to be in charge - without any way to know if what we’re feeling is valid or not.

And where we're oh-so confident? Well, seeing as such convictions are bred, born and harbored in the heart of the human ego, Neptune is bound to deny them.

In other words, such notions will - now or in time - prove either incorrect, flat-out wrong, unworkable, damaging, unlovable or just plain not what you had imagined... idealized... clung to with all your heart in the depths of those nights filled with longing.

You know - during those Neptunian times.

Oh yes, it’s enough to drive a few people crazy... (even more than a few)...making these days ahead all about what we will get ourselves to do or be or face or tackle in spite of that weakness which says 'I just don't like it' (when you know that's an excuse) or when we insist something else is more important despite knowing that just isn't true.

It isn't the thing we're talking (or thinking) about which is the native weakness. It's our willingness to not take that high, hard road - that being OUR weakness.

However willing we are to face whatever our vulnerabilities are, particularly as that pertains to something 'old' or from our past and despite our attempts to protect or defend that 'old' or traditional thing which we stand for and stomp for on merits...but which in truth we would feel most vulnerable without.

And the mix up of influences isn’t complete yet. Kallisto goes direct approximately a day after the Taurus Full Moon, Mercury re-enters Scorpio about twenty-four hours after that - and a day after Mercury re-enters Scorpio, Damocles goes direct.

'The Sword of Damocles' by Richard Westall (1812)

The story of Damocles is one of those ‘well all do it’ sort of things. It centers around a courtier (Damocles) who, while standing around the king’s court looking courtly comments about how the job of a king is downright easy. Why, if Damocles got a chance to run the kingdom...

Unfortunately for Damocles, the king is not only listening, he’s irked just enough by the courtier’s offhanded remark that he orders Damocles to take his place for a bit so Damocles can see if a king’s job is truly all wine and roses.

And it’s in that very minute when Damocles plants the appropriate body part in the seat of the king's throne when he realizes what he’s gotten himself into, for above hangs a sharp and dangerous sword.

It's right above his head.

And it’s hanging by a hair.

Wherever we find Damocles in the chart, that’s the area of life (and by degree, the specifics of the issues in that life) where we face having to learn that though something may look easy, it’s not only not simple, but also possibly fraught with personal dangers. And wherever we find Damocles by transit, that would be where things and situations promote a peculiar combination of 1.) heightened awareness and 2.) concerns of some seriousness or importance - both of which become far harder than they "need to be" as we become ever more aware of the need to manage very different priorities.

Speaking of managing, the Juno grand trine discussed in the previous post will be in force through late on the evening of November 8th. 

In going direct in Aquarius, Damocles references social, income, systemic and societal matters which are also more difficult than they look. Whether actually dangerous or not (danger implied by Damocles often merely has to do with the ‘puncturing’ of our an idea or inflated ego stance) these are moments meant to connect an idea or theory with the reality or realistic approach. That the degree involved here is 19 Aquarius emphases tenacity, intellectual exchanges (spoken or otherwise, successful and otherwise) and an ability to get to the crux or core of an issue even if doing so could be rather painful.

And unsuspected.

Remember: what we do now which is meant to coerce doesn’t work. That which we do or opt for now which is based only on what we want or our dreams will not work. There is a ‘ranking’ in astrological influences which in this moment still says that whatever else is happening the ‘big deals’ are really the big deal - and that’s not Damocles, that’s Neptune and the Solar Eclipse, twin factors which at this time are ‘feeding’ back and forth still challenging us to get past what we like to what we really need to fix FIRST within our Self, then in the world around us.

The last addition to this piling on of effects in the wake of the Full Moon would be centaur Nessus going direct at 27 Aquarius on November 10th, an event which happens as Mercury finally exits its retrograde shadow. (Think of this as adding ingredients in making a cake batter before you put it in the oven and you’re pretty close to the workable notion.) So to whatever we are dealing with which pits our (Kallisto) desire to preserve the old even though that is gone, forcing us to proceed on a new basis, even though Mercury has left the airy Libra arena and immersed itself in more intense (and sometimes choppy) Mercury in Scorpio waters, even though things aren’t quite as easy as we thought they were going to be, now we’re on new ground.

That’s what Mercury exiting its shadow means: we are moving into an area of experience, operation or discussion which is - and should be - based on a new perspective and all which has been learned to this point with an eye to moving forward.

A carved relief of Mercury (Hermes) in Stuttgart, Germany

(photo credit: Ecelan, 2009)

And just to recall: 2 Scorpio (the degree Mercury went retrograde at, which now becomes the ‘gateway’ to new experiences) is all about who we are and how we go about being who we are.

2 Scorpio is about character and the character we choose to be, who we want to be - and in some venues, how that plays against the expectations or desires on the part of others with regards to who they want us to be, with a particular emphasis on whether we are ready to accept the responsibility (or whether we have accepted the responsibility) for who we are and what we do or have done.

Deianeira and the dying centaur Nessus by Howard Pyle (1888)

How interesting then that Mercury exits its shadow just as Damocles going direct points us back to external matters (current or past) which look easier than they really are. Because Mercury is doing this as centaur Nessus goes direct there is a quality of ‘again’ (or repetition) here which speaks to ill will being carried forward beyond all limits of reason. Often thought of as something of an influence which ‘poisons the well,’ Nessus always points to unbridled passions which in whatever form are harmful both to the originator and others - though seldom (if ever) to the object of loathing and disregard...which in Nessus’ going direct at 27 Aquarius speaks to some a tie between past, present and future (a connection through time) which now is defended or insisted upon. With Nessus there is no shyness about exacting a ‘blood cost’ for that one thinks just - and yet just that act of insisting is often wrong, no matter how its presented or justified. This degree often manifests with a friendly, calm demeanor just as Nessus is well known for being an unkind, even blindly heartless influence which surfaces after a period of perfectly civil integration and association.

All of this happens as this period begins to evolve. And once Nessus goes direct and Mercury exits its shadow, then we have the rest of the Monday-through-Friday work week to deal with that before the onset of the Leonids on November 15th, just before Neptune goes direct. (Expect a separate post on Neptune and Venus next week.)

So what do we know about the Leonids? For one, they aren’t Earth’s longest meteor shower - this year’s edition will begin on the 15th and be over by November 20th.

On the other hand, the Leonids are ‘thick.’

What is a ‘thick’ meteor shower? Well, due to the fact that the comet responsible for the Leonids (Tempel-Tuttle) has an orbit which comes close enough to Earth that its ‘sprinkles’ (the meteorites we see streaking across the sky at night) don’t have much time to spread between where they are thrown off by the comet and where they cross Earth’s orbit.

(And just for the record here, we’re talking about ‘close’ in astronomical terms - which is still plenty far away.)    

All this amounts to a generally high rate of meteors per hour - a real plus for meteor watching. More to the metaphysics however, given that meteor showers are known as times when we get ‘sparked’ by ideas and input, that may spell a time when new thoughts, ideas and influences appear almost as fast as we can perceive them.

And yet...that the Leonids begin just a day in advance of Neptune going direct (and Venus entering Sagittarius) - does that say our ‘new ideas’ or ‘takes’ on given subjects are wonderful or terrible? Does this just add to the confusion or help straighten things out?

That, and why that is...that’s probably what we’re about to go through learning - again.
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Ask the Astrologer: The Nessus-Venus-Mars-Sedna (September 26/27, 2012) Edition

Hello Boots,
Any ideas the significance of Nessus, Venus, Mars and Sedna at 23° Fixed signs, representing a Grand Cross, on or about September 26,27 2012?

Signed, Anonymous

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This question was left by someone calling themselves “Anonymous” (they write a lot of posts all round the internet) with regards to a blog post on Sedna which you can find HERE

Let’s start the ‘think it through’ moment with a diagram…

For one thing, friend Anonymous, I can thank you for bringing up the subject of Algol. I’d already put it on my calendar to discuss Algol next month, as October 15th is the date when the South Node will conjunct Algol.

You’ve heard me discussing Algol on and off: it’s a star which is often referred to as ‘the power of the feminine’ which ISN’T a reference to gender, but rather to our ability to contain ourselves and/or to respond thoughtfully (at least sort of thoughtfully) instead of just going whole-hog emotional.

There’s a greater confluence here too – with Sedna in the mix, there’s a sign of ‘not wanting to let go’ which in the ‘my values, my money, my perspective, my…my…my whatever’ sign of Taurus we are seeing expressed everywhere by just about everybody.

Oh yes – and Sphinx? As an abstract symbol, Sphinx translates to patience and endurance. But time and again I’ve seen Sphinx in active little knots like this when there are problems in the middle east – a term I tend to use liberally when it comes to the geographic concept.

The positive side of this ‘grouping’ would be to work on your own thing, paying attention most of all to those abilities which will help you make your way in the world. Sedna/Algol is tough enough as a marker in time; it’s a prime signature of all the selfishness ‘so long as I get mine, to heck with everybody else’ sort of thinking. Now that the lunar nodes have backed into Scorpio (North Node) and Taurus (South Node) this is playing out more and more on a personal and relationship level. The most insecure among us will act the most ‘me-me-me’ and are the most apt to take without regard to what the cost is.

Such people should remember…my aunt is still out here.

Who’s my aunt?

It’s a joke, but I do often make references to ‘Aunt Karma.’ Why? Because I see karma operating so clearly in people’s lives that it may as well be a family member I’m listening to the nefarious (if grievously fair) doings of!

Truthfully, I rather love the idea of karma. It’s an Indian (east Indian) term which enfolds the idea that in what we do…or what we don’t do is enfolding the result of that action or act of action. It’s a spiritual and metaphysical way to say ‘cause/effect’ without referring to the parts. All is one. I’ve heard psychologists speak of this when they say ‘choosing the action is choosing the consequences’ (which also holds true whether you act or don’t act).

 It Shoots Further Than He Dreams - a 1918 war cartoon by John F Knoll

which pretty much describes the nature of karma rather well

Those who are most apt to act without thinking or who blame others for what comes of their choices…I tend to think they are students of my aunt. After all, they seem to structure their lives as to spend so much time in relationship with her…

Anyway…while that’s happening, Venus is making its way through Leo. The up side of Venus in Leo is ‘worthwhile creative development’…of ourselves, or maybe some situation – or even others. Or some ability. With Achilles here, this might be physical strength or a physical skill, which could be athletic…or then again the ability to nail the nail into the wall without hitting your thumb with the hammer. Maybe you’re trying to master some sort of drawing skill? Or baking? Those are physical too. Sharpening our skills to some definite purpose is very Venus/Achilles in Leo.

Adding in Eurydike/Agamemnon however….? Now we get to the cost (Eurydike) of maintaining a stance (Agamemnon). So are you sharpening your skills at some cost? Are you doing one thing when you know you should be paying more attention to something else?

Combining the Taurus quotient with the Leo quotient we are seeing a theme of wanting to do something our way. Algol and Achilles/Agamemnon both lend and edge here which can be useful if you’re doing something productive…and not so useful if all you’re trying to do is have your own way.

I’m going to skip over Scorpio for a minute and go right to the Aquarian Nessus/Lilith quotient. This is ‘denying you have any feelings about’ or ‘denying you aren’t being realistic’ or ‘denying that you’re responsible for repeated problems’ which happen in a distinctly social (or) societal (and/or) income deriving area of life.

In opposition to Venus, this may speak to what you haven’t learned to do. Or what you don’t want to have to know how to do.

And yes, it can also be the not wanting to have to do it, no matter what.

Having said all that, wherever we find the North Node, we know we are heading in the direction we should be heading. In Scorpio, the way to work things is to negotiate and to own your responsibility (and ability) to contribute while understanding and being fair with others. Everyone should come out with an equal amount of satisfaction wherever a Scorpio dynamic is concerned…but it’s a whole lot easier to aim for either your own goal first and last (or at least first, with whatever remains being left for others) or to do something to distract yourself or “cover up” if or where you’re having problems. The Medusa quality in this grouping speaks to the uncomfortable or disquieting or anxiety provoking or seemingly frightful, frightening, even futile thing-person-situation you don’t want to deal with.

Then we add in Mars and when we do act we may go overboard, and when we resist we’re iron clad.

But then there’s that North Node thing. And you know what the North Node says?

DO IT ANYWAY.

Whatever it is you don’t want to do because it’s so uncomfortable, because you swore you never would give in on this point, because you just don’t want the hassle…do it anyway.

 Maria Spelterini walking a tightrope across the Nagara Gorge (from the United

States to Canda) back in July of 1876

(photographer George E Curtis, 1830-1910, Niagara Falls Public Library)

And that’s really the ‘solution’ to this whole grand cross puzzle. The basic dynamic of the grand cross is one which is challenging to the utmost. Most of us consider a ‘grand cross-type’ situation and just turn our mind to something else because the whole subject is so complicated, disquieting, challenging…call it mentally exhausting.

Or maybe it just ticks you off. (That too.)

Fixed signs linger and linger and hold back and don’t do and won’t budge and often won’t even talk about it. I know one person with fixed Sun, Moon and Rising who has decided that life is “fate” simply because he doesn’t want to deal with standing up for himself, his own opinions, his personal outlook and what he might have wanted to do with his life before he bought into a list of ‘shoulds’ which haven’t made him happy, haven’t played out the way he thought they would and which as time goes along become more and more complicated and internally confining.

(Yes, Aunt Karma knows about him. I happen to know he’s on her ‘to do’ list.)

The thing about fixed signs is that they are ‘last minute’ folks. These are the people who did all their homework and studying the night before the test or due date for that report. These are the people who freeze like deer in headlights, who vanish when times get tough but who (often) pull it together once they realize for real and sure that nothing but being who they are will work.

It’s a lesson, this fixed sign thing. We all have fixed signs in our charts and we all go through it.

Bottom line, the clue here is the North Node. Everything else is a variable – the North Node is an instruction.

So whatever that uncomfortable, icky thing is? Do it anyway.

Oh yes – two other things:

1. This Algol-Sedna-South Node ‘entitled not to care’ thing is going to (alas) go on yet for a while. Call it at least until February 2013 and in all likelihood through mid-April 2013.

2. If you decide to ignore everything said in the course of this blog (which considering all the fixed signs involved, wouldn’t be shocking!)…you should at least know that the Moon enters Aquarius on September 24th at 11:34 p.m. UT/+0 time and it remains in Aquarius until the wee hours (3:34 a.m.) of September 27.

That means that on about 14 hours prior to that time (call it 3:30 or so in the afternoon of September 26th, UT/+0 time)…the Moon will be moving through the early part of Aquarius’ 3rd decanate: degrees 20, 21, 22, 23….
And that will set a lot of this energy off.

So don’t be surprised. Third decanate energy is energy that comes at us from the world, so this could be anything. It could be commentaries you’re expecting or out-of-the-blue events such as you haven’t ever anticipated.

If you see my Aunt Karma, say ‘hi’ for me – will you?

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Yes, I am always happy to answer questions! So long as they're general/generic or about transiting figures, ask me - chances are, if you're wondering, so are oodles of other folks. (For personal matters, I work with private clients, too.)

But questions? I love hearing questions!

So go ahead...(you know you want to, right?)...share your curiosity!

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Nessus: The General Problem and the Problematic Specifics

  The Abduction of Deianeira by Centaur Nessus

by Jean Francois Lagrenee (1755)

Nessus is about to go on station. The date of that station is October 28th - the same as when Mars moves into Sagittarius. Thus, given the 2-day leeway we give to stations (before and after), that means Nessus station effects begin today....and continue through October 30th.

And about that combination of Mars, Sagittarius and Nessus? To anyone who knows Nessus, that should sound a big gong. Or at least be a hint that things could get...um...challenging.

For those who don't know Nessus, though I'd like to say 'lucky you' the truth is that every point is in every chart. So there's a Nessus quality operative somewhere in your life. It may be active, it may be passive. You may be the recipient of sad Nessus effects or the one delving them out. Or even sometimes both.

There is a long form of the story here, which if you'd like to read, I invite you to: here's the link.

In short however, the Nessus issue boils down to  'poisonous jealousy' (and maybe 'boils down' may be the wrong term to use - ouch!)

Before we go on, a couple of interesting notes on Nessus, which was discovered by David Rabinowitz (in conjunction with Spacewatch) at the observatory on Kitt Peak on April 26, 1993.

In an interesting break with tradition, as the subject of what to name this new object was being considered, three astrologers (Zane Stein, Dieter Koch and Robert Von Heeren) weighed in on the subject. Having studied 1993 HA2 (as Nessus was called until formally named)... they had all considered this new asteroid's workings in various charts. And after doing so, all three wrote (independently) to the international body which names celestial objects. All three astrologers suggested calling this new object Nessus...which among other things, suggests the myth really counts. 

Currently in Aquarius (sign of society, social systems, income and acceptance) Nessus' 'poisonous lust' and craven jealousy has been showing up for quite some time in the greed of some in society without regard for those being hurt and standards of behavior being tossed aside along the way. Nessus entered Aquarius back in November of 2005 after a rather quick 6-year romp-and-ravage of Things Capricorn which began back in 1999.

'Quick' here, by the by, refers to a mean average; with an orbital period of 122.4 years, the mean average time we would expect from Nessus in a sign would be 10.2 years. This means Nessus has a highly elliptical (egg-shaped as opposed to circular) orbit.

As you can see from the above, we're sort of in the 'short end' of the Nessus process right now - it's effects are swift and intense. But is longer and more languid any better? That's a good question - one we will all get to try on for size once Nessus enters Pisces in 2014.

And that Nessus is going to be in Pisces for close to twenty years - that also should give us a clue. Pisces being a sign all about feeling and dealing with our own feelings, that a trouble-maker marker like Nessus is going to be there for so long suggests we all have a lot of emotional growing up to do.

As always, maybe there's something to be learned from the last go-round in such circumstances...which in this case would be the late 1800's, a time which saw a rise in hypnotherapy as well as the advent of pharmaceutical painkillers - a boon as well as a threat. Society went through the Victorian Era, the boon, benefit and indiscriminate abuse of power associated with colonization was in full swing - and questions concerning slavery, the rights of women, child labor and such were just coming to the fore.

Oh yes...Nessus in Pisces is something we all can so look forward to!

Meanwhile however, Nessus is still in late Aquarius, giving us the experience of ourselves - our own better and lesser qualities - as mirrored in greater society and our attitudes towards same. Depending on where Nessus is in your chart natally and now by transit (and the rulers thereof) that will say a lot about the nature of 'Nessus  situations' which teach us about these qualities in our life.

During the past several months, Nessus has been in retrograde. And while retrograde, it's likely we've all been in a reflective mode. Are our priorities in correct order? Why do we - and others - behave as we/they do? We've dealt with our selfishness and wrestled with longings and lusts close up.

But now Nessus is going direct. As it does, some will strike or strike out, depending on situations and how people handle their own internalized sense of poisonous entitlement. That this is happening in a degree noted for its Uranian qualities suggests where energies and people have been 'repressed' or 'repressive' there will now be a 'breaking through' which may not be pleasant. Lore suggests illness possible but...interestingly... stresses that interaction and communication (not hostility) is the answer. This in itself is a big support of a lot of theories put forth by holistic medicine and  psychology both.

Yet let's face it - there are those who would rather not deal with any idea or system of thought which suggests that any 'cure' can simply be about them. Why not? Because that implies there was something wrong with what they were doing to begin with - and that's a whole giant difficulty in the land of the astrological Nessus.

Like I said...you may want to read the whole story.

Between now and October 30th (when station effects subside) hidden desires may surface in yourself or others around you. That this station occurs as Mars moves into Sagittarius suggests some of this is about shifts in ongoing issues - particularly those which are either about containment or which have for whatever reason gotten into a situational stalemate.

Whatever goes on remember - Nessus feels like it's about someone else, but it never is. Nessus is about us and how well we are able to recognize, work with, take responsibility for and deal with our own urges, lusts and oh-so mortal desires!

The Astrologer's Notes: Venusian Pesonality Economics

 October by Chase William Merritt

What to say...how not to make light of anyone's difficulties? The 'I don't have any idea what to do about it' going around is so a reflection of Neptune in late Aquarius, Pluto in early Capricorn, Uranus in late Pisces, Saturn in Libra...

...and this dollop of Venus on top? It's everyone standing there saying 'look at me!', 'pick me!', 'appreciate me!', 'love me!'....We're all so starved. Some for money, some for love - and most of us (at some level) for that sense of self worthiness which empowers us. Which allows us to get out there and know how things can be done, inspire people to join in.

Venus in Scorpio is hard. It forces us to fall back on who we are in a way which makes us feel secure. Add a little

Neptune in late Aquarius and it becomes a fog, a veil of tears, a clouding of our certainties. 

We just aren't sure. That strength which would be inspiring altruism melts away into insecure unwillingness to take a risk. And because we won't risk - because everyone wants someone else to fix things - nothing gets done. Nothing gets fixed. Those what have hoard. Those what don't have, hate. It's not anybody's recipe for success.

People resist change until desperation drives them beyond where they can afford to resist. They say  desperate times may call for desperate measures - which would be why necessity becomes the mother of  innovation.

Or muthah's it, I'm not sure. 

It would be so nice if people would let go of old ways and narrow-mindedness...but they're scared to.

Talk about being scared of being broke...Neptune in late Aquarius plus a Scorpio Venus retrograde? People are scared of being stripped of their beliefs, ideals which have kept them feeling coddled and cozy, no matter how wrong they are.

Neptune in late Aquarius is so the bringing to the for of all that. And all that goes with that - the blindness to caring what really happens when you care more about the ideal than the reality.

 Volcanic Sunset by Vincent-Phillips

Then there's the whole Pluto in Capricorn thing. All the problems in people's lives? That's exactly what needs changing. Where and what we all lose is where we need to focus our effort.

But I get it...it takes effort. It's very uncomfortable. It requires sacrifices. People marvel at how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, but I bet not one in a hundred thinks about what that kind of transformation must feel like - not to mention that it's going on inside a cramped chrysalis.

Can you imagine?

Then come the moment your need to get out. Who thinks about the effort it takes for a new butterfly to break out of that shell? And within minutes or maybe an hour after that it's supposed to pump blood into its wings and take off and....what, fly?

Yes, it's instinct. But the process of doing all that? That  takes effort.

Maybe because humans think so much they think themselves right out of their ability to make things better...right until complete necessity forces them to fight to stay alive, yes.

Pluto in early Capricorn is maybe a our chrysalis phase. Part rearranging our parts - plus then forcing us to learn how to live a whole new life.

No wonder nobody's liking it!

Maybe we need to apologize to our local butterflies. We so take them for granted. We watch in wonder and delight. Maybe we should add a big "good job!"

 Der Schmetteringsjager by Carl Spitzweg (c.1840)

Then there's Uranus...rolling back and forth at the very end of Pisces. People think they can escape feeling, not realizing that what they're feeling which makes them want to escape is the whole and total deal.

And terribly unproductive. Like life is going to go away? 

We don't like being forced to deal with what we feel about our feelings - especially when our feelings are what we know we shouldn't be feeling. Or when we've been deluding ourselves that we feel good about something but we know it's wrong.

It's all about control - and Uranus says we don't have control and that scares people more than they can deal with really knowing. People know they need to change. And they know - somewhere deep inside - that what we refuse to deal with is exactly what ends up dealing with us...often in ways we don't like.

Escapism is so much more attractive than innovation. Excuses are so much easier than breaking out of our old mold, yes even if the old chrysalis is exactly what's keeping us from spreading our wings, showing our colors, shining in the sun and...yes, flying.

People say they have faith. Religious or not, they all seem to have some feeling life happens because it happens because that's what life is. I like the old metaphysical saying: unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should.

But it's as easy to fall back on Bob Dylan. You know...the times, they are a'changin' ?

The only thing which can be entirely relied upon is change. Change goes on without change. 

I wish (that being a real Pisces term) that people would get that all the instability of feeling, all the disruptions of society - it's all about getting us to let go so that as Uranus moves into Aries next year we'd be ready to do and be something new.

Think they'll get it? 

Maybe. Then again, there are always a bunch in any lot who prefer to remain sitting on a stick.

The old is on its way out. I guess it's just not going to  vamoose without a fight, though.

And then there's that Saturn in Libra...do people not get that what you give determines what you get? Those having such a hard time 'getting' need to 'get' that what they're 'giving' isn't what people what to get! 

Oh, I'm hearing that Bob Dylan thing again....

We have to think differently. Do differently. We need to think in terms of appealing to people in some new way now that the old way isn't working.

It's either that, or change our name to Outmoded. Hi, I'm little Miss Outmoded. Got anything old and unusable for me to natter around with today?

Seriously! I so wish people would get it that it's pretty apparent how its time to pay attention to working on (Saturn) what we do, how we do it and who we do it to, with, and for. Our act needs working on.

Or maybe we just need to get a new act?

Hard choices are in the works. Wherever Saturn is, ends and pruning and sacrifices follow.

For a planet with rings, Saturn is not all that well rounded. It sort of behaves like a cleaver. Or a wall. Or a big, fat dead end.

Then again, with every end comes a new beginning. Something just has to pry our grubby little mitts off whatever we're so determined to hold on to.

 The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali

And there is that Saturn ruling Capricorn thing too. That so ties together the how we interact with others and the what supports our world. We're all in for some  enormous transformation and the easy or hard of that totally depends on how realistic we are, how willing we are to deal with the facts instead of resorting to our  whiny 'why can't I...!!' thing.

(sings): whoa, baby - there's a lot of whining going around.

I'd make a really, really lousy Elvis.

Whatever.

(A brief pause here while I indulge in my daily sulk....)

We've all been sinking into a morass of late. It's so Scorpio Venus retrograde. Life as a putridly stick torrent making things hard, harder, hardest...

...and oh, would you mind acting cheerful while it hails fire, frogs and hail?

People probably think I actually blame Venus retrograde for stuff when the truth is I don't. Transits only mark the time unfolding.

The fault lies not in our times (she said with dignity, striking a presidential pose) it lies in our stubbornness! Our reticence! Our desire to have someone else make the sacrifice or provide the offer or make the change SO WE DON'T HAVE TO!!!!

Unfortunately, that's just not the way it works. The job situation may be terrible, yes. But that's because nobody is giving an inch - or a damn. We're all at a Scorpio stalemate.

It's a big giant game of chicken out there. And those who retreat the most or hold on the hardest, they may well graduate from chicken to turkey.

We all need to change what we're doing or how we're doing it (Venus), who we're doing it with or the standards we hold ourselves to (Saturn). We need to get over our narrow mindedness and thinking someone else is or isn't responsible!

The truth is we're all responsible. For everything. And if everyone would give, everyone would get. Today's problems aren't about a lack of abundance, they're about a dirth of unwillingness.

And everyone wants to imagine its everybody else at fault. Trouble is, we know it isn't.

Somewhere down inside, we know we're just (Neptune) kidding ourselves. And we wish we were kidding others. Unfortunately we're not. And we hate them for knowing what we don't want to know about ourselves (Venus). 

 The Moon at Crescent Phase over Kingman Arizona

photo credit: Beth Woodrum (November 27, 2007)

Change is upon us (Pluto). We can either get with it or get gotten good by it (Uranus). That which is lost to some is lost to all, and the sooner we start thinking in terms of what IS instead of what should be (Pluto), might be (Neptune), could be (Uranus) and what we just plain want (Venus), the sooner we can all get back to doing what needs doing, reignite the engine of stability and productivity...

...which is - in the end, I mean - the genius of human accomplishment at its beautiful (and actually? Saturn) best.