Saturn in Sagittarius

Taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, Saturn looms large in the foreground with

our beloved Terra Earth but a distant dot in space.

(photo credit: NASA, JPL, Caltech, 2013)

.

As Sagittarius is the 9th sign of the zodiac, Saturn’s entering Sagittarius indicates a shift into the 9th derivative phase of everything which requires focus, discipline/self-discipline, structuring, responsibility, dedication and/or diligence.

It’s also the place in our individual Saturnine process where (and when) we come to feel like we can finally see our goal. It’s right there. It’s right ...

And then something happens.

Why would something happen? No, it’s not because Saturn is out to get you (even when life feels like it) and it’s not because anyone just wants to rain on your parade.

So why would something happen? That’s because Sagittarius, being the 9th sign in the zodiac is the sign right behind Capricorn (zodiac sign number 10), Capricorn being the sign of accomplishing the success which then ‘pays off’ in Aquarius (zodiac sign number 11). And that’s important because Saturn rules Capricorn, which makes Sagittarius the 12th derivative sign to a sign Saturn rules.

The 'natural zodiac' wheel

To work with derivatives, start with the sign you are looking to find the derivative of. Counting

that as "one," go counter-clockwise around the wheel (as the signs are numbered here) until

you arrive at the 'derived' sign of influence.

. 

Sagittarius is about expansion - the expanding of what we know, what we want to know, our sphere of influence, our understanding of our Self. In being the opposition sign to Gemini (the sign where we are asked to think things through, make a choice and construct priorities and plans) Sagittarius is also the sign where we meet up with people and things which may further contribute to our (Gemini) choice-and-plan ... or which may challenge it or point out it’s chinks or flaws, causing us (more often than not) to go back and review all our Gemini (and 3rd house natal) choices.

Sometimes we return to Sagittarian mode and stand up for ourselves, which wouldn’t be unlikely moving forward as Saturn is all about standing up for Self and the ‘standing’ of the Self as Saturn is astrologically all about structure (including backbones, real and proverbial) and the process of re/structuring ... some of which will happen over the next couple of years as we (Sagittarius) expand what we know or understand and see the benefit of building for a future, or bringing our past up to date.

(Or at least working on it.)

And about that ‘Sagittarius as the 12th sign to Capricorn’ which was cited because Saturn rules Capricorn. First of all, ‘rules’ are a big thing with both signs: Sagittarius covers the theory of law and Capricorn (hence Saturn) represents the reality of it - the rewards and consequences both for breaking a law and whatever the consequences for a given law may be whether planned or otherwise.

What isn’t in this mix however is politics, politics and all of its highly verbal operations being Aquarian and 11th house. (Which yes, does mean that the age we are now entering - the Aquarian Age - is going to end up being highly political and less based on the universal faith or the universality of faith, that having been a ‘last Age’ theme).

However ... Saturn itself (as opposed to Capricorn) is quite often a tinge political - and being the ‘in door’ ruler of Aquarian, that makes sense.

Why bring all this up? Because Saturn will be traversing the 12th house to its ‘sole ownership’ sign of rulership (Capricorn) at the same time as Saturn is - by moving through Sagittarius - also in (and therefore activating the 11th derivative to the other sign it rules: Aquarius.

What this amounts to is a crib sheet which says that during the whole of the period which starts on December 23, 2014 (at 4:34 p.m., UT/+0) and which ends on December 20, 2017 (when Saturn moves on into Capricorn) we can expect substantial successes and structural challenges where/when we test our own limits and our own (Gemini) ideas. And since wherever we see Saturn we earn what we get and get what we have earned, there are likely to be any number of debates both with our Self and with others - often in public as the public airings of opinions and getting ‘out there on the record’ are essentially a Sagittarian forms of sport.

But more to that derivative concept: the 12th to any sign being where we are emotionally tested or tested on our ability to accept our own feelings and our feelings about emotions (got that?), with Saturn moving through the 12th sign to its own Capricorn ‘home base’ (so to speak) is to virtually guarantee that we will - each and every one of us - have, or run across some sort of gap or glitch which we will react to for however short or long a time depending on your personal relationship to that which is hard for you to face. When that happens, the extremes of response will be at one end a fervent sort of frigid rejection and at the other a determination to accelerate some process in the name of necessary in spite of how we may or may not feel about it or about how it might affect us personally.

At the same time that that’s in play we will also experience Saturn being in the 11th derivative sign to its other sign of rulership (Aquarius) makes a reference to earning results, inclusive of whatever might prompt us to want to work towards some particular result and all that we are challenged by along the way. As with all eleventh derivative signs we will all be called upon to balance that which distinguishes us against that which distinguishes us from others. And at the same time that we’re doing that, we’ll also be having to satisfy that uniquely  Aquarian requirement that we balance the idea or ideal against everyday practicality and universal functionality - all without fracturing or breaking society’s structures into layers, classes, castes or anything else which embodies some sort of exclusion.

Saturn enters Sagittarius (first ingress, glyph chart)

December 23, 2014 - 16:33:59 (4:33:59 p.m., UT+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

.

Saturn enters Sagittarius (first ingress, glyph chart)

December 23, 2014 - 16:33:59 (4:33:59 p.m., UT+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

.
As Saturn enters Sagittarius it may well also be useful to note that Saturn will be making this ingress not once but twice, as Saturn will reach 4 degrees of Sagittarius by next March, go retrograde, and then back into Scorpio...

Saturn retrogrades out of Sagittarius (glyph chart)

June 15, 2015 - 1:35:31 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

.

Saturn retrogrades out of Sagittarius (text chart)

June 15, 2015 - 1:35:31 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

.
...for just about three months between mid-June and mid-September before going direct on August 2nd (UT/+0) and re-entering Sagittarius on September 15, 2015.

Saturn's 3rd (final) Sagittarius ingress (glyph chart)

September 18, 2015 - 2:49:12 a.m. (UT+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

.

Saturn's 3rd (final) Sagittarius ingress (text chart)

September 18, 2015 - 2:49:12 a.m. (UT+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

.

Looking just at the first ingress, Saturn is conjunct dispassionate Pallas in a degree which speaks to ‘mastery’ (28 Scorpio) whether we have it or not - which again points back to that Saturnine ‘have you earned it?’ quotient. With Sedna at 24 Taurus (and retrograde) in opposition to Pallas but not Saturn, we all have something we’re unwilling to give up which is holding us back, just as we’re all perfectly able to see someone else doing the exact same thing - and guess who we’re pointing fingers at?

Right ... probably ‘them’ for something we are in our own (perhaps distant) way equally enmeshed in, consumed by or (self)righteously devoted to - probably for reasons which go back to the basics of who we are, how we were raised and with what values and so on.

This ‘inner’ knowing or perspective on something we are doing ... and probably something we’ve done in the past as well ... to some degree this holds us to standards now just as to some degree we are proceeding in spite of not yet having sufficient experience or ‘maturity’ with something to be completely sure we know either what we’re doing - or that how we’re doing it is going to get us where we really want to get to.

We also know (this being purely Saturn) that it’s going to take time to get anywhere ... even if once we get there we realize that’s not where we want to be, at which point we’ll pack up our lesson learned and move on.

In keeping with regular astrological theory, retrograde passes (such as the one we’ll see this next June as Saturn moves back into Scorpio) tend to be personal - and this one is unlikely to be anything different, although with Saturn itself now in opposition to Sedna while also in opposition to the Moon and Mercury at 4 Gemini (a degree known for insight and interactive perception) even though Sedna isn’t conjunct the Moon and Mercury suggests being of ‘split mind’ - or at least attention - though why that is would be up to specific circumstances, specially as Saturn is also trine Vesta and the lunar South Node as this ingress gets made.

It would seem a moment of inner caution, though why that would be is entirely personal. It could be something small like dreading having to clean out a garage or going to the dentist. Then again, it could be something which - especially with a lunar node involved - plays on or through some relationship, be it person or that you have to some subject, effort or avenue of undertaking which has for good or not-so-good gotten out of hand.

It will take a couple of months from June for Saturn to finish retrograde and get back to it’s Sagittarian ingress, but once it gets there come September 18th, we will certainly know some form of ‘workable versus unworkable’ (Saturn trine South Node at 0 Aries) and that we are either ready to proceed with some furthering of some cause or that we need to proceed according to some new tact or tactic, the Saturnine reality of which we are ready to begin working on now. However ... that Saturn is not just opposition Sedna (which in its own grand trine to Ceres and the Sun reads rather as a status quo, personal allegiance (or) vision or tradition which we don’t want to let go of but may need to)... but that Saturn is also in square to Mars at 25 Leo?

Saturn and its largest moon, Titan, which is some 3200 miles or 5150 kilometers across.

(photo credit: Cassini - NASA, JPL, Caltech, SSI)

.

Well, this is Saturn coming into Sagittarius and ‘committing’ to the full transit of Sagittarius as the object of a t-square with a Leo Mars as some ‘hurdle’ we have to get past - and in this case the hurdle is related to not just an individualistic highly biased (whether pro or con) Mars expression with regards to problems of pride, ego and luxury and/or luxurious self-indulgence, often to such an excess that the gift itself runs out.

Thus some come to Saturn in Sagittarius to forge ahead while others come to Saturn in Sagittarius to pay the price for what they’ve done ... a thought which leads to why those responsibilities spoken of in connection with Saturn must be those we owe others because we owe it to our Self.

That's the Saturn if Sagittarius premise - that we owe it to our Self to be someone who not only learns what they need to learn (i.e., to survive or get ahead) but how to their utilize skills, knowledge and conviction such that by the time Saturn reaches Capricorn and Aquarius, things we have put to work (and worked through) during this learning phase become the foundation for becoming someone capable of manifesting greater successes as a human being ... not merely as someone others see as manifestly successful. 
.
.
.

Saturn by Degrees

Technically a perfect example of a man-made eclipse, the Cassini spacecraft took position beyond Saturn so and photographed the ringed planet 'lit from behind' by the Sun.

(photo credit: NASA-JPL, Caltech)

Part of the symbolism derived from Saturn’s position as the planet farthest from Earth visible with our personal, unassisted eyes is the idea that Saturn both marks our ‘boundaries’ in life – those limits beyond which we cannot (or will never) reach along with the challenge to reach the fullest extent of our potential.

Bringing all that to Scorpio, Saturn in Scorpio thus becomes the sign that we’re in the middle of a (two-and-a-half-year-long) period when our ability to grow the fulfillment of that potential and the goals we have for our Self in life – when all that is intersecting and being confronted with the need to contend with whatever feelings, goals and needs everyone else has.

Known for a period when praise can be bullying and when what appears to some as bullying can act as structural support, Saturn in Scorpio can stand for a ‘cutting’ force which when used with skill “cuts through problems.” And yes, such solutions may seem sensible – even popular. But because Saturn in Scorpio also times out glitches in plans of sufficient size guaranteed to get our attention what we think we know we may well know, yes.

Then again, we could be completely wrong. During the whole of Saturn’s two-and-a-half year passage through Scorpio various forms of this knife-edge between polarized convictions will occur simply so that we’ll stop acting on instinctual desires to ‘win’ and ‘deter risk’ in order to build something which will not just provide a path into the future, but enough feeling of sufficiency and security to continue what in reality is an unsecured loan on eternity called life.

Still, let’s be real here…we humans don’t much like our plans going awry or getting stopped. Very few of us greet moments with glee. (And yes, if we did, that would be a whole other issue.)

However we want to think of it, Saturn in Scorpio often manifests in a sense of frustration over loss.

But is the loss real? It may feel final, but is it?

And is that an actual loss – or is there something better?

Until we get to the point where we cling to something as immutable bedrock because it’s our bedrock (our emotional ‘my way or the highway’ stance) Saturn in Scorpio tends to manifest as supportive. But once we do get to the point of clinging, whether it’s to some person, some idea, some method, means or condition (which in Scorpio is merely a back-handed attempt to control)…then Saturn in Scorpio represents the upset, the destabilization, the undermining of security real or imagined.

Remember: Scorpio is an emotional sign. The external stakes may be real enough. Then again, things positive and negative now may be what they are because of some internal emotional process – one which some might call an emotional blockage. Even denial.

Wherever we see such internal/external imbalances, stability ends.That’s something we’ve seen over these past few months in ‘spades’ (as they say). As a sign Scorpio tests and stands with great durability in many a situation which looks imbalanced, but which on the inside, isn’t.

That’s one of the premier Scorpio secrets. If a structure tangible, financial, situational, relational or of any other type is properly ‘calibrated’ or engineered…or to put it more in ‘people-ish’ terms wherever a matters gets fully discussed, negotiated and/or agreed upon without coercion, denial, manipulation or threat ensuring that both/all sides are able to own and operate from a conscious position of power, Saturn support and growth can be lastingly initiated.

Note please: Scorpio dynamics require that we respect both (or all) sides of any question – and this applies whether your debate is with someone else or with yourself. It also applies equally whether the question is something you’re on the positive or negative side by preference.

That Scorpio is also strongest during times of calm and clarified focus has been evidenced over the past few months as Saturn has been continuing its opposition to dwarf planet Sedna in Taurus, the signature of our desires. At some level we’ve all been being put through the personal wringer about who we are, what we believe is valuable, who doesn’t agree with us and how to have personal viability on a workable scale.

Solutions to problems have felt intractable. And yet, they must be solved. That solution – and the fact that we know there’s a problem (though the thing we’re staring at is probably not it) is a good and decent start of things. But it’s certainly not the end, the solution, the light at the end of our tunnel.

And that…that’s going to still take some time to come about. At the moment, all our evaluations are being put to the test and we’re bound to find a few things need tweaking (on the inside) through October, 2014 – at which point something integral will shift (reflecting the solar eclipse at 0 Scorpio on October 23, 2014).

But for now, we need to know what to do…which points to yet another possible function of the current Mars retrograde in Libra, a sign where our Mars energy may be down (have you been feeling tired or worn out lately?) and certainly we’re having a bit of a ‘think’ about who others are – and aren’t.

No, we don’t like all the answers. Plans and ideals are getting tumbled and jostled as we all cope with some sort of growing (Saturn opposition Sedna) realization that the way things ‘have been’ really doesn’t work any more.

But if we can’t do it ‘that way,’ how are we going to do whatever it is we do or be whoever it is we are being?

Wait…should we change?

These are the kinds of very basic…if complicated questions facing us now. And while they’re facing us…they’re also facing everyone we know, which is going to make for a bit of ‘being out of sync’ and/or some ‘dissipation’ of energy which could be all good or disappointing, to say the least.

Ahead of us (Huya/Saturn) is a task which needs doing in an interactive and public setting which involves harnessing that which we have learned through our hardest of hard lessons in the greater interest of all from which we make some sort of gain or gain ‘traction’ of some form.

But we’re not ready for that yet. In fact, for whatever reason peculiar to us we’re each ‘backing away’ from that ‘thing’…specifically some moment of decision or commitment which will trigger our taking on ‘the task.’ And that process – the working through of the ‘how,’ ‘in what order’ and the ‘sorting out of risks, responsibilities and rewards’ – is going to take us through May 20th, at least.

Not that things aren’t going to change between now and then, whatever we may think to the contrary.

And we may be doing that contrary thing, to be sure. In fact, to the degree that we are committed to being “stuck” or holding onto some position which doesn’t take the interests and needs of all parties into account… that’s pretty much a measure of how diligently we will be tested by life, events, situations and others as we move through the April 29th solar eclipse.

A Taurus solar eclipse, that is – the Taurus ‘energetic’ of which would be plenty for us to deal with even without the feeling of being made to ‘tread water’ or some sort of tedious-feeling sluggishness, a sluggishness which reflects our being ‘pushed through’ our own reluctance to see something truly valuable that we’re missing.

Imagine that…we’re missing out on something really valuable, all because we’re doing some sort of immature (Sedna) clinging to some pre-determined definition of ‘good’ which doesn’t allow for many of the beyond imagining possibilities life may hold if we will just let go of our Scorpio desire to control everything in sight.

Everything which is out of sight, too.

Working from the premise that it’s better to have more information than less throughout life in general, it occurred to me that you might find it useful to have a list of Saturn’s degree position not just through the April 29th date of the eclipse but, from now until the station where Saturn turns direct this coming July. For one, once its here at the blog you can always come back to think things over. But just as important is the idea that each of the ‘major indicators’ we are given in the ciphering of time into opportunity is understanding the ever-shifting, ever-evolving pattern.

Thinking through that tells us even more. For instance, last year (2013) Saturn went retrograde on February 18th and direct again on July 9th. This year (2014) Saturn went retrograde on March 2nd and will go direct again on July 20th, shifting the cycle forward in terms of our calendar year by about a half month. And next year, another shift will occur.

The implications here are useful when planning a year, especially when we mix in the ‘partner’ energy of Jupiterian experimentation and learning without which Saturnine efforts in time become defeated by sheer antiquity.

You know, the ‘that’s old hat,’ thing. Preserving the precious ideas while continuing to keep pace with our times would seem to be the Saturn-Jupiter balance and those who manage or master such cosmic dances do well.

Saturn's rings (photo credit: NASA, JPL)

And when we don’t?

The breaking, the limitations, the loss and the ‘weakness of standing’ which is as much a part of Saturn as the ability to endure come what may… whether we are being called to some challenge in the world or within our Self-world or being limited by factors we must master through being mastered by – knowing that we are now in a period where Saturn’s retrograde starts under Sun in Pisces and extends through Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini into Cancer describes a solar five-sign trine.

Trines equal ‘ongoing energy’ which can be good or bad depending on whether we’re content with what we’re doing (or being) or not. In that Saturn us the descriptor here we are told that there may be growth or ‘stoppage,’ ‘gain’ or ‘loss’ depending on what we have (Scorpio) invested thus far… and that the (Pisces) ‘origin’ of the day by day (Sun) life we’ve been leading – both within our consciousness and as a participant in our life-or-world – is at some level both the evidence and some lesson we could be empowered by if we understood how our degree of ability (or willingness) to cope not with others but with how they are reacting to however we are displaying our values (or) what those values are…how that ISN’T about ‘them’ (or ‘that’ which is in progress, or which has happened) but about our ability to (Scorpio) reconcile ourselves to some sort of (Saturn) reality.

How that becomes whatever it is which either promotes peace (general and/or personal) or forces us to keep fearing the worst, whether we are rewarded with opportunities and positive developments or rejections, rebuffs and threats…that may well be about ‘them’ and whether they’ve done their Saturn stuff, yes.

But it’s also – totally and separately – about prompting us to do our best so that in time we can move towards our goals regardless of whether someone else wants to stand there quacking or not.

(Yes, I said quacking.)

That trine also says that we are living through a period of years when the ‘largest emotional common denominator’ (Pisces) is being brought home to our most personal of emotional experiences – Cancer, sign of home, hearth, family, culture, national heritage…all that.

This is a pattern which moves fairly quickly (at least in astrological terms). Back in 2001 (using that just as an example) Saturn’s retrograde was starting at the very end of September (with Sun in Libra) and ending in early February with Sun in Aquarius.

Those are both public and worldly signs. They are about how we experience life rather than more or less about what life is. The second six signs of the zodiac (Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces) are always about life in general, which is why people born under these Sun signs learn from interaction more readily and more necessarily than those born under the Sun in the first six signs (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo), meaning half of us naturally learn just through the process of being (and on our own) while the other half of our world’s population is naturally attuned to learning through processes which involve others and things going on in the environment.

INTO WHICH comes the cosmic clockwork we think of as Saturn, a ice cold gas giant upon which we can have no standing – literally. There is no ‘standing’ on Saturn: in the moment you reached its surface you would be under it.

That’s a perfect scientific image of the Saturn as the astrological cogwheel we call time. We cannot ‘stand’ on time.

Time is evidently not there to support us. Nor are we – evidently – supposed to stand in a defined ‘spot’ when it comes to time. Some of Saturn’s greatest losses come about from ‘living in the past’ instead of learning from it and applying just that  in a present day (Saturn) reality environment.

Saturn will not honor a present day life lived in ‘back then’ terms. Where we attempt to do that, Saturn inevitably emerges as some sort of loss, big or small. This dichotomy between that which is ‘of the past’ and our reality of the present is being brought out now as part and parcel of other things allowing us to develop the sort of emotional insight which will release us from internal enslavement to some ideal or fantasy we’ve perhaps thought we had to live or embody in reality.

Saturn – regretfully – is now tearing down many of our gossamer dreams in processes rife with disappointment. We will tend to think ‘what’s wrong’ is in or with reality when much of the onus is on us.

Somewhere in our past we took something which should have been a motivation and we’ve turned it into a goal. It’s time to let go of that as reality and live in the reality we have, releasing our Self from the impossibility of some mythic unattainable so that we can flourish in the (Saturn) time we have among those willing to see and receive us.  

Since 2001, year by year Saturn’s retrograde pattern has continued shifting. There’s a natural variation in how long each retrograde lasts which astronomically is about planetary orbits not being round – not to mention the fact that astrology is geo(Earth)centric – meaning any ‘egg-shape’ in Saturn’s orbit around the Sun are compounded by earthly eccentricities.

You know…like our life is littered with all those places where we get out of ‘sync’ with our responsibilities, whether to others, Self, world or even those parts most human which require structure?

To the degrees Saturn is going to be passing through over the next several months, in reading through the symbols (below) you’ll no doubt notice their impersonal or ‘transpersonal’ nature. That’s a third decan/decanate quality we always see in any degree (of any sign) between 20 and 29 and its an indicator that our work… our difficulties… our challenges and our greatest rewards come from taking on where our own (Taurus) orientation towards life and what we think is viable or valuable meets up with the orientation of others.

Into which comes the solar eclipse, the ‘unbidden’ and ‘awesome’ splendor of illumination which comes upon us, forcing us to see some greater inner light than we otherwise behold in our everyday life.

So for good or bad, for all the pluses and minuses we feel, suspect, cling to and are being pressured by, in the end these passages and thus this time all about our learning about who we are and where our individual strengths and weaknesses lie and whether that’s truly apropos for the person we have become – or are becoming in this moment.

Whatever our direction is, it’s as much about how others see us as how we are wanting to be seen – that’s the simplest side of Scorpio. Our (Scorpio) instinct will be to define, divide and apportion things, whether that’s our time, our interest, our efforts, our love, our willingness to risk, our money, our vulnerabilities or strengths…we will be tempted to structure everything for our own goal. 

And we may achieve that goal. Or we may not achieve that goal. But since Scorpio is an interactive sign, wherever we don’t at least consider the opinions, priorities and needs of others, we will be sowing the seeds of karma.

Our karma, that is. Saturn is the astrological symbol of earning. What is earned through time is delivered in time. As Saturn passes through Scorpio’s third decanate (a process which will continue until Saturn moves into Sagittarius on December 23, 2014) we all have an opportunity to work on whatever our misgivings are so as to be more whole and wholly who we are…a quality Saturn ultimately times our learning about, defining in that the being of a leader not necessarily in the world at large, but definitely in our own individual life.

Saturn's double auroras as photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope

(photo credit NASA JPL, Jan 2009)

* * * * note: all dates/degrees in UT/+0 time * * * *

Saturn at 22 Scorpio: March 22 – April 12

Sabian Symbol No. 233:

A RABBIT METAMORPHOSES INTO A NATURE SPIRIT

In keynoting this degree as ‘the raising of animal drives to a higher level,’ astrologer Marc Edmund Jones seems to be referring to the ever-present Scorpio reference to some sort of speed of action, reaction, advance or defeat - all of which, in being  focused on either mandates or prevents some sort of choice. The degree 22 Scorpio is known for it’s ability to ‘scatter,’ but whether that’s us or that which is ranged out there for us to deal with is individual and situational (read: individual to any given chart, be it a natal chart, product chart, national, corporate or relationship chart).

Where negative energies now ‘dissipate,’ that Saturn is in an emotional sign signals a moving through some situation which involves, invokes or causes us to witness (or connect with) whatever will get us to consider the scope and challenges of life in terms of anything from disappointments or losses to the need to regroup, recalculate, learn better and try, try again. In keeping with Scorpio and Saturn, the point here being is about the equal validity of experiences which may differ widely in perspective, though it is to be expected that some people will simply “shut the Saturn door” and attempt to wall some sort of reality out.

In other words, though the term selected for 22 Scorpio by astrologer Dane Rudhyar (‘TRANSUBSTANTIATION’) is apt, knowing whether we are serving as the inspiration for change or are being changed by someone or something which transforms us is entirely a demonstration of how far we’ve come along our path in the worldly sense as well as in the personal call to fulfill not some theoretical ‘destiny’ but the fullest utilization of our talents when it comes to being a human being.

Currently in retrograde, Saturn will return to 22 Scorpio after going direct in August, completing whatever ‘evolution’ is indicated here as we move through and past the period of October 15th-23rd.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Saturn at 21 Scorpio: April 12 – April 27

Sabian Symbol No. 232:

HUNTERS SHOOTING WILD DUCKS

For those who recognize this symbol without quite placing the degree, 21 Scorpio is the degree of the November 2012 solar eclipse…which astrologically makes the qualities and themes associated with this degree (as they reflect in our individual life) are things we are working on, and which we will yet work through for another year and a half or so.

In case you’re new to astroPPM, here are the links to the two-part post on the 2012 Scorpio eclipse:

- link to -

Solar Eclipse (Part 1): Fate Beckons

- link to -

Solar Eclipse (Part 2): Scorpio’s Eclipsing Provocations

Marc Edmund Jones typifies this degree as ‘the socially accepted release of an individual’s… or a group’s aggressive instincts’ which is very much in keeping with Scorpio as an interactive sign which ultimately teaches that while we may win or lose through interacting, to not interact is to guarantee loss through decline. Wherever we experience our ‘Scorpio’ quotient(s) we either fear risk, abandon ourselves to risk or tend to gauge carefully before making a choice – and sometimes it’s all that gauging and estimating (read: inertia) which defeats or enables us.

Mistaking that for cleverness is a mistake, by the way. Scorpio dynamics ask that we be a participant, not the presumptive genesis of all things great and powerful, its premise being the greatest use of power is to rely on earning respect, thus negating the necessity to use whatever force power may give us. Signature of the metaphysical ‘walk softly and carry a big stick,’ Scorpio’s ‘stick’ is best used to defend necessity rather than ego…which is why the old expression ‘revenge is a dish best served cold’ is also so very Scorpio in its request that we think things through while resisting the simple servicing of the desire to make ourselves feel good, which is where ‘revenge’ and ‘vengeance’ fit into that long, long list of things which only work when the basis of interaction is mutual.

Note please…it doesn’t have to be lovable or even friendly. Scorpio shows up differences even as it shows up inequality so that we will be judged and judge ourselves by how we treat with such things. So it’s not so much what we do but how and why we do it which defines success or failure here. And with Saturn (emblem of earning) setting this degree off this year (now and between October 5-15 when it returns to 21 Scorpio after going direct in July) we are beginning to understand many things which others may have known long before now.

How we react to that…the energy of whether we feel ‘shot at’ or ‘shot down’ or ‘hunted’ for whatever our reasons are…what we do with the understanding of what that means to us is important on its own and also as part of a present and far more complicated picture.

 * * * * * * * * * * * 

Saturn at 20 Scorpio: April 27 – May 10

Sabian Symbol No. 231:

OBEYING HIS CONSCIENCE,
A SOLDIER RESISTS ORDERS

Dane Rudhyar’s  keyword for this degree – ‘INNER FREEDOM’ stresses the intrinsic Scorpio quality of self-relationship. In other words, the freedom is not that of the commander or whatever might (or might not) come out of some military action. This is the soldier’s freedom…and here the soldier is responding – as we do in Scorpio moments – to the idea of feelings he (or she) is feeling inside.

That the term ‘conscience’ is invoked here suggests that a broader concern or reference is being given priority as the soldier is not resisting out of spite or rebelliousness, but because there is some sort of higher cause or consideration at stake.

Marc Edmund Jones’ keynote for this degree - “A readiness to face the results of a refusal to follow the authoritarian patterns of an aggressive society” – may or may not be literal (referring to physical authorities or soldiers in a street) but are certainly references to those ‘patterns’ we have been raised with. The ‘echo effect’ alluded to early with regards to Saturn’s retrograde beginning under Sun in Pisces and ending under Sun in Cancer here alludes to our (Pisces) reactions – particularly those of an emotional, ethical or spiritual nature – to how we may or may not be ‘living out’ a message from the past or some idea which could limit our future.

Do we want to be doing what we’re doing? Are our priorities those we would respect in someone else as those which will earn respect and support in the short and long run?

After going direct, Saturn will return to 20 Scorpio as of September 25th and it will be at this degree through October 5th. Where life is requesting that we consider issues beyond our dedicated ‘norm,’ we do ourselves a favor by understanding what is being said. The person, the thing, the subject matter may be the point here. Then again, it may be totally insignificant when compared with what we will learn now about how we deal with our opportunities to grow. 

 * * * * * * * * * * *

Saturn at 19 Scorpio: May 10 – May 24

Sabian Symbol No. 230:

A WOMAN DRAWS AWAY TWO DARK CURTAINS CLOSING
THE ENTRANCE TO A SACRED PATHWAY

The reference here is an interesting one since it pictures a woman who in ‘drawing away’ curtains closes a path to something or somewhere else. In other words…we are being ‘arrested’ or stopped – at least long enough so that – as astrologer Marc Edmund Jones’ keynotes it – we can experience a ‘revelation to the human consciousness of what lies beyond dualistic knowledge.’ That the curtains are referred to as ‘dark’ may indicate an end to some sort of ‘guiding light’ we have been following, whether in our own mind or in real time and everyday life.

The symbol here being Saturn, this is also a process of time we are encountering. Does it call upon us to take something seriously? To act responsibly in that singularly Scorpio manner which rewards and disappoints (sometimes in the same breath) our ability to balance or harness our internal, wholly ‘us’ mentality (our natural ‘isolationist’ position) in the name of using that natural isolation for greater – not purely personal – benefit.

Dane Rudhyar keywords this degree as a “PLUNGE AHEAD INTO THE UNKNOWN.” Because this is Saturn we are talking about, the dates indicated here plus the days between September 13th and 25th may be when we can’t ‘plunge ahead’ for some intrinsically Saturn reason. Whatever end of the polarity we encounter here (the need to stop what we’re doing/being or the need to press forward to deal with some specific issue which has emotionally ‘stopped’ us)…in the end these days contribute to our own estimation of who we are and where we stand with our own feelings about life, thus coloring who we are going forward and how we will come to be regarded by others – an important factor as Saturn passes through a degree noted for its ‘taste’ for violence which arises from a distant tap-root of sadness, sorrow or pain.

 * * * * * * * * * * *

Saturn at 18 Scorpio: May 24 - June 8

Sabian Symbol No. 229:

A PARROT REPEATS THE CONVERSATION
HE HAS OVERHEARD

The keynoting of this degree as ‘the capacity to transmit transcendental knowledge’ (Marc Edmund Jones) and “CHANNELSHIP” (Dane Rudhyar) in light of the ‘mouthpiece’ here being a parrot would seem to refer to repeating what we have heard (or been taught or instructed to do) without substantial thought – which is neither good or bad on its own.

Against this however, are the notes of lore stating that this is also a degree which like 19 Scorpio is also known for conflicts, particularly those which have one side choosing to embody some form of ‘justice’ which may or may not be applicable.

Taken in combination, the (Saturn) reality of things from May 24th to June 8th and again during August 31st through September 13th becomes focal as we work to sort through what ‘parroting’ is simply talk and which has some actual long-term (Saturn) value.

Whether we are right or wrong, in other words, may well not be as important as knowing/learning the difference between that which is easy to sign onto (and ‘parrot,’ whether to others or in emulation of someone we respect/admire) and that which has long-term merit worth committing our Self to over time.

Whatever else is happening now, we are plainly involved in the process of establishing parameters for communication and thought – which makes the parrot indicated here greatly a reminder about how as humans, we have other options.

Saturn’s question being always about responsibility for Self and the use of our time, maybe we need to change something, finish something or consider some set of standards.

What the facts are involved? Do we need to change how we deal with others based on what they advocate or choose for themselves? Or maybe we merely need to change who we associate with on what basis because of whatever qualities are now becoming evident as a truth which has, or which will like as not prove true over time? 

 * * * * * * * * * * *

Saturn at 17 Scorpio: June 8 – June 29

Sabian Symbol No. 228:

A PATH THROUGH WOODS BRILLIANT
WITH MULTICOLORED SPLENDOR.

Where the term ‘Transubstantiation’ refers sometimes to a change in our immediate environment or ‘private life’ and even more often to a “miraculous” change in our experience of or insight into our life/Self, the Dane Rudhyar keyword given for 17 Scorpio (TRANSFIGURATION) is more akin to that which comes ‘through’ us or what we do, appear as, or innately are - as when we occupy a particular niche or function (personal or impersonal) in someone’s life.

Metaphysically, any wood ‘brilliant with multicolored splendor’ is a reference to an autumnal transformation and some sort of ‘fruitfulness’ which with a great flourish and beauty gives up its current growth effort in the cause of the recuperation and consolidation of gains made throughout a last growing season or harvest. In an emotional sign like Scorpio the reference to ‘multi-colored’ can refer to feelings, efforts, reactions, approaches, ideas…whatever action or theme has been synthesized into one ‘brilliant display,’ with each of our lives offering us the chance both to see such a thing or to be such a thing.

Thus the ‘path’ may be that we take in approaching something we think of/experience as so wonderful…or it may be the path we take in our own lives in order to achieve whatever for us would be this magical walk through such a wood.

Referred to by Marc Edmund Jones as a degree which manifests as ‘the exalted feeling of a work well done and a truly consummated life,’ the Saturn transit of this degree now (from June 8th - June 30th) and again in direct motion from August 10-31 ‘surrounds’ us with a ‘splendor’ we must work with, work within the confines of and deal with responsibly, whatever that may mean to you and yours.

Because this is a second decanate (emotionally charged) degree of a sign (Scorpio) which is deeply emotional by nature, the (Saturn) ‘work’ implied here may not be unpleasant at all – indeed, it may have some glorious moments. But yes, it could be truly dreadful and it’s still (Saturn) work and should be treated as such. The ‘path’ may be in our head or under our feet; wherever it is, its realities remain important and will take some time yet to play out, though effort must be invested (investment being a Scorpio byword) in order to ‘fund’ future growth and a stronger basis for repairs, restorations, rebuilding processes and all those areas of life where that which is outmoded/no longer functional can be properly attended to in a ‘step by step’ manner.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Saturn at 16 Scorpio: June 29 – August 10th

Sabian Symbol No. 227:

A WOMAN, FECUNDATED BY HER OWN
SPIRIT, IS “GREAT WITH CHILD”

With Saturn taking its station to go direct at 16 Scorpio on July 20, there are two ways to think of this degree. One is to say that it’s about our own ability to renew and create a whole new life for ourselves through the power of our self-determination and the other refers to a more esoteric ability to be inspired by a fertile ‘creating self’ we experience ‘in spirit’ as humans.

Seeing that metaphysics is not gender-specific in application (any valid metaphysical concept should be able to be  universally applied) the gender reference to “her” isn’t physical. Instead it’s a reference one of three things:

1.) The principle of receptivity.

2.) Something which has been retained and which as part of a ‘bank’ built through experience influences things going forward.

3.) The question of whether something should be responded to.

Typified by Marc Edmund Jones as ‘a total reliance upon the dictates of the God-within,’ and by Dane Rudhyar as “THE TRANSPERSONAL WAY,” Saturn’s long residence in and station at 16 Scorpio is an underscored metaphysical notice that what we do will involve others and that it should involve others – the entire concept of which will tend to test more than a few of our naturally ‘what’s in it for me?’ sort of tendencies.

No, we’re not supposed to put our interests first. Scorpio says we can have what we want provided everyone else gets an equal measure of what they want…and no, WE don’t get to define what someone else wants.

We have to ask them…which brings up that whole ‘Scorpio as an interactive sign’ thing. What this amounts to is a situation where necessity or desire may well drive us…but what it’s driving us to is to interact with others “outside our normal circle”  (achieving the Scorpio aim) in the effort to get our way.

And if we meet up with something which affects that goal, that aim, that drive? That may be fine too. Sixteen Scorpio has a reputation for being one of Scorpio’s more ‘warm’ (as opposed to heated or icy) degrees and its humanitarian influence may surface in any area of life where one is called upon to act honorably in the face of some process gone awry.

This is a degree which may call for bravery. But what we’re talking about is not the sort of bravery which ‘saves the day,’ but rather the kind of courage which gives us the strength to face things no matter how ‘out of our comfort zone’ they are.

And why will we do it? We will do what we can in light of what comes to light now because we know that in doing such things we are embodying the  responsibility to carry our fair share of life’s burdens.

* * * * * * * * * * *

.

.
.

Saturn, Sedna, Ceres, Jupiter: Manifest Gearing in Motion

A 'dragon storm' on Saturn

(photo credit: Cassini spacecraft/NASA, JPL, Space Science Institute - September 15, 2004)

Back as February started there was a couple of days astrologically marked by Sedna going direct and Ceres entering Scorpio. 

(link) Sedna Direct/Ceres enters Scorpio

Of course with Sedna nothing is quick – so though the February 5th station will have ‘marked’ a turn of perspective, beyond choices of that moment, there’s an awareness of what the whole of this period means which will take time to formulate and become something we can…and may yet consider acting on.

So don’t forget what you’ve been doing. Good or bad, it’s a reference point you’ll look back on from somewhere down the line as surely as these days and weeks passed have gotten us all to see time’s swelling continuum.

In fact, that Sedna hasn’t changed degrees is something of a metaphysical ‘directive,’ if you will…one which says we’re not ‘moving off the mark’ – we’re just ‘turning things around.’

With Sedna in Taurus, this could be our seeing what someone else values or why they value it. We could also be involved in an extended (Sedna) period of time which is about developments leading to a better perspective on who we are – and aren’t. With an orbital cycle of over 11,000 years, dwarf planet Sedna isn’t about ‘this instant,’ it’s about all the many ‘instants’ which go into those things we never expected or suspected which end up transforming our life or perspective on life. 

 Jupiter, Mercury and Virtue by Dosso Dossi

(16th century painting - oil on canvas, Wawel Royal Castle, Krakow)

  
We are all…in our own way…cautious. It’s built in. And however your ‘caution’ tendencies work, or whatever it will take to ‘caution’ you, that’s been part of the mix going into events and recent trends. It’s as if we need to know what our limits are so we can decide whether to…or how to continue on. Or if we’re willing to let go of something in favor of some ‘greater capacity.’

Through whatever our Sedna process is, we either slowly fulfill our greater possibilities or merely sink into our depths, there to be endlessly drowned in the unconscious abandonment of greater potential.

Which is…by the way, one of the ways Sedna differs greatly from Ixion – which we’ve been talking about of late. With Ixion we always ‘know’ better but something gets us to give in to that we know we shouldn’t be doing. 

Of course that ‘should versus shouldn’t’ would be the sticking point. In Ixion’s case the challenge is bedrock reality and what we know we believe right or wrong, real or unsubstantial. With Sedna, the challenge is to let go of whatever our current reality is because we’ve outgrown it. Only by letting go can we embrace and be embraced by our more powerful potentials.

So how to know which is which?

In general, Ixion is something about you or in your life which you do or have 'in interaction' with others, or at least in the presence of others - should you, or shouldn't you do, be or believe that way? Sedna is broader - more philosophical and more about who we are against who we would have the capacity to be if we gave ourselves permission to own every scrap of our abilities. In embodying Sedna, we become more a part of - not apart from our world.

And if any of this sounds like ‘earning our way’ through life, that seems both true and particularly apt now as the increased sense of ‘applied pressure’ has manifested throughout February as a series of ‘Saturn tasks’ – things which have to be done so that other things can happen.

The ‘plan’ – the idea of having a plan and understanding what any plan involves – is the Ceres part of this equation, with Ceres in Scorpio emphasizing a focus on emotional abilities, inabilities, vulnerabilities, defenses and possible/absolute costs…with ‘costs’ referring to anything financial or otherwise which ‘costs’ us – or our (Ceres) plan at some emotional level.

There is a place where Ceres always represents our need – as well as the instinct - to protect ourselves, whether that comes from a real need, imaginary danger or some knee-jerk reaction/habit we’ve gotten into.

Even one we’ve allowed ourselves to get into, whether it’s useful or…you know…costly. At worst, we will now experience relationship stresses, which considering the Sun is in Pisces may promote some sort of feeling of defensiveness – even a touch of panic on our part. That we are only likely to experience such notions in areas of our life where something or someone has been unfair (that being the 1 Scorpio quality brought in by Ceres’ station)…that asks where exactly we are willing to tread, considering none of us are angels.

We just aren’t. And as mortals, we aren’t supposed to be angels – we’re supposed to be figuring out what’s wrong with the way life as a mortal works – a process which tests our sense of inner coherence over the next week or so. By feeding situational dynamics down into inner niches of our more often than not secret soul we are brought to know how our areas of blockage are really places in our life where we’re not ready to take on responsibility.

Or maybe we just don’t want to have to really grow up?

As Saturn opposes Sedna on Wednesday the 26th (UT/+0 time) Jupiter’s square to Uranus (as part of a greater Pluto-Uranus-Jupiter t-square) perfects.

Obviously where the planets are now isn’t where they were when the energy reaching us got stirred up. But given all the implied adjustment for time signals here are one part confluence plus a mighty push towards change.

Or is that a confrontation with that which won’t – or is unsettled in the face of, or by the idea of change?

 A 'false color' image of Umbriel one of Uranus's more than several moons

(photo credit: USGS, August 2007)

Much now depends on whether we are needing to renovate or innovate. With Jupiter’s square to Uranus (as part of the bigger Pluto-Uranus-Jupiter t-square) perfecting on the same date – February 26th (UT/+0) – that Saturn’s opposition to Sedna comes to exact, points are being made.

We’re being taken down to bare bones with ourselves. And an evocative journey it is.

We can expect our feelings to be flexing now as part of all else we’re involved in. There’s obligation in the air and we know it’s as important as it is even if we feel unprepared to cope.

But as soon as we get that far and admit that much to ourselves…it’s about then that we feel ourselves knowing that we indeed can cope. It’s more about a choice of whether we want to.

And for some, whether they know how to.

Realism counts moving forward; there is nothing for it but to recognize that much is at stake now. It has very little to do with life around us and everything to do with whether we are willing to own our strengths as possible detriments and those ‘suspected’  vulnerabilities as under-utilized sources of vast potential.

And then there’s that other little fact…the one about the date of this dual Saturn/Jupiter ‘exactitude’ also being the opening of Mercury’s station-direct ‘turnaround’ on February 28th. That window being February 26 through March 2, we would expect things occurring right now - particularly those which occur right at the beginning of the ‘window’ (around the 26th) to indicate other things which are going to appear or be fulfilled in the future. 

Where or how far in the future depends on your individual chart...but we do know that as Mercury is going to be in the late ‘teen degrees of Aquarius about then, it’s the idea of the thing which counts – the clarity of the passion, the quirks, the attention to technique, technical aspects, details and good old fashioned attitude in putting things out there which counts.

Nike may say ‘Do it’…I say ‘Own it.’

They go together.

Much is in motion - and much of the current question is how much, or to what degree we are involved...or how much or to what degree we have exempted ourselves. "Safe" may be the right name of the game in the personal sense, but in a greater sense the real question - the path which holds our greatest potential and which will require the most of what we know ourselves to be...that requires taking some sort of risk.

And where you are with the mere idea of that risk (the idea being the air sign/Aquarian part of all now)...that's not about the risk itself - that's about the state of your emotions.

Which is a whole different matter. You can solve the problem and maybe the problem (challenge, job, effort, etc.) will be solved - at least for the moment or perhaps forever.

But that still leaves the feeling part.

Some of us will tend wholly to feeling things now, ignoring the outside world or our need (read: responsibility) to be involved with the world on its basis, not our carefully cherry-picked one.

You'll feel better so long as you don't look outside - outside maybe of your Self, and maybe of that window on the world you've been avoiding. 

Oh yes…in case you hadn’t heard, that we’re special isn’t what wins in Aquarius. Aquarius is all about that thing which is special about us which we can be appreciated for – which implies we put out there with full acceptance of what we’re doing as our calling card and foundation.

To get where we want to be, to be the person who is that person living that life now asks us to let go of some part of who we used to be. That’s hard – none of us deal well with growing pains when the angst and agony are ours.

Do it anyway. You’ll like yourself for it, both in the short and long run.
.
.
.