Venus in Aquarius

An ice block on the beach near Jökulsárlón, Iceland

(photo credit: Andreas Tille, February 2003)

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As Venus moves into Aquarius on January 3rd (at 14:49 - 2:49 p.m. - UT/+0) time few will be looking up and shouting ‘whoopee!’ as if some gift had been given.

But in a sense, that could be what’s happening - depending, of course, on what you’ve been doing (or preparing to do) prior to now. Venus is, after all, the symbol not of ‘cause-effect’ as a system but that magical, sometimes longed for and sometimes dreaded moment when cause turns into effect.

Yes, Venus represents the ‘having,’ which we associate with Taurus (one of Venus’ two signs of rulership). But considering that Taurus is not merely the ‘having’ but the ‘using’ or even the ‘consuming’ - Taurus does rule food, restaurants, groceries, chefs and all which goes with that.

But why Taurus rules that is the point: food preserves life. Having food, knowing how to feed ourselves, even the simple act of eating - they’re all intrinsically and biologically linked to a primal feeling of inner security which comes from knowing you’re not going to starve.

So as Venus moves through Aquarius, this question or ‘quest’ for security and to bring things into a position where cause does turn into the effect we want - that becomes a generalized aim. Yes, the Uranus-Pluto square and Saturn squaring Neptune - all those inner recalculations and outer reconciliation processes being thrust upon us by our times and life - all those things continue (see previous post). But within that, the Venus part of our daily life - the search to make things ‘happen’ - that moves from the Capricorn structuring phase about what’s what and what got us where we find ourselves, what needs doing and why our values are as they are ... all the subtly past tense ‘how we got here’ themes which have been much a part of our past several weeks melt away.

And in their place we are faced with today: what it takes to survive today, whether we integrate that ‘past’ into today - or whether we simply accept today as its own thing and something we need to learn about and participate in. In adapting, might we become as functional as others? Might we be able to either ‘fit in’ or utilize some ability or talent that we have (all such things being Leo and Leo being the polarity sign to Aquarius) ... have we something in our ‘bag of tricks’ which will allow us to stand out?

More over ... if we (or what we do) does stand out, will that ‘cause’ turn into an ‘effect’ which is universally well received or only well received in the mind of a particular faction?

That’s the Aquarian part. Aquarius is the sign of the social, societal and human collective. Aquarius is the marketplace of thought, of ideas. In being the third of the zodiac’s theoretical airy signs Aquarius is also not the individual mind-and-mindset of Gemini. Nor does it embody or promote interactive communication or conversations good and bad between factions and collectives as Libra does.

Venus in Aquarius (glyph chart)

January 3, 2015 - 14:49 (2:49 p.m.) UT+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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 Venus in Aquarius (text chart)

January 3, 2015 - 14:49 (2:49 p.m.) UT+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Zodiac signs all come in threes. The first is personal, the second is interactive and the third is global. So where Venus in Gemini is ‘what I like’ (or choose to pursue) and Venus in Libra is ‘what we like/don’t like’ (or choose to focus on), Venus in Aquarius is ‘what is liked’ ... or ‘what works’ or ‘that which is successful’ - the “proof” of which is the response, be that applause, accolades, ‘likes,’ popularity, money or the fact that when you flip the switch, the lights go on.

When the Aquarian system ‘works’ - the proverbial light goes on. And when an Aquarian system doesn’t ‘work’? Then we are in the dark - sometimes literally (Aquarius does rule energy and energy systems) and sometimes figuratively.

And all of this can be about others ... and then can be about us: sometimes Venus in Aquarius is all about feedback, the “results” of what we’ve done. Venus in Aquarius isn’t the Venus in Capricorn world of  bottom lines and ‘consequences,’ but rather is more about sizing up what’s working and what isn’t - and why. With it’s emphasis on functionality and a ‘system’ which works universally and across-the-board, this January 1st through January 27th Venus in Aquarius period will let us know where things don’t work, leaving us to sort through what needs updating against what needs an overhaul and (Pluto square Uranus) changing, whether that’s of some attitude or about the thing itself.

There’s a note of showiness to Venus in Aquarius which given our day and age lends itself to technology, gadgets and any of a number of means by which we entertain ourselves through some electronic or digital means. Venus in Aquarius will also point to the positives and negatives of money being operated on any theoretical level, whether that’s a reference to an economy, economics in general, wages, how money is spent, accounted for or moved - or any of the facets which pertain to  entirely basic questions of having “enough money to survive” ... or how much of anything (money, effort, time, loyalty) is “enough.”

Venus in Aquarius can reward. It can also deny rewards, which in some cases denotes being ‘cut off from’ (being ill-informed, being in denial) something.

Why that would happen is variable. But it can happen - and for some (those who are averse to life being other than how they want it to be) Venus in Aquarius is often a time where things get ‘bypassed’ or ignored simply because there’s an inner terseness and tenseness which translates roughly as ‘I don’t have to deal with that - so I won’t because I don’t want to.’

Let’s remember, after all ... Aquarius is a fixed sign: it isn’t easily ‘moved’ off it’s base or basis of anything. And if you’re saying ‘but then, neither are any of the fixed signs,’ I’ll agree but add that this particular sign in question (Aquarius) is the only one of the four (the others being Taurus, Leo and Scorpio) which is an air sign - which means it’s the idea which is at least initially captivating, not the reality. Like its Leo polar compliment, Aquarius functions in and as a world of possibilities: Leo is just the “me” part of that universal world of ‘the possible’ where Aquarius is the theoretical ‘entirety’ of possibilities - whether that range of possibilities is defined as some sort of communicative or interactive dialogue (human or otherwise), some sort of possible and/or powerful potential, or the quality of some global ‘whole’ - be that a society, a marketplace, a power grid or any sort of societal system (banking, media, transportation, educational, political, social, corporate, economic, infrastructural, etc.) or the hold-effect-influence any such system may have through its workings on a wider or broader population.

There is a definite plus of Venus in Aquarius in that it lends a pleasantly ‘airy’ quality to many a situation which might otherwise seem a bit leaden. Used effectively, understanding that people are ‘keyed’ or attuned to that which is presented in such a manner or phrased within the parameters of such a tone is useful, though any (read: all) of the fixed signs represent energies which can become ‘too much of a good thing’ too quickly - which in this case would be the sort of appearance or presentation which easily lapses over into the boorish, arrogant or even simply manipulatively friendly, often whether that’s the intent or not. With Venus in Aquarius there’s less of those free-floating moments when suspicions and questions about intent color the mental air than, say, one might encounter under Venus in Scorpio. But Venus in Aquarius has it’s own ‘darker vibe’ as this is a sign/planet combination which brings out not just the upstanding wheeler-dealer in many, but the underhanded con artist in some. This combination can bring out social turmoil as well as social (or economic) tendencies to ‘blackmail’ others in ways which have nothing to do with love or money.

And because we’re all on this frequency at the moment, we’re all primed to pick up on everything - good and back - that we have no idea we’re projecting.

Aquarius as pictured in a stained glass at the Chartres Cathedral in France

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So that’s the down side. The up side of Venus in Aquarius is the capacity for simple, uncomplicated fun - and often a willingness to allow a little ‘coloring outside the lines’ when it comes to issues of humor.

Why humor?

Probably because laughter lightens our load and in ways both physical and otherwise, serves to ease our heart, putting us at ease - at which point we can think to extend our hand ... and maybe even our Self ... in joining in conversation if not friendship, with others.

And if that happens globally, you never know - Venus in Aquarius just might serve our personal, worldly and greater purpose ... which in essence would be the whole of our being - and part of our meaning in the vastness of an incalculable and eternally all-encompassing, boundless Existence.
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Dateblog: January 2015

January 2015 by Sign

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In terms of personal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars), January 2015 begins with three of the five (and we really shouldn't count the Moon in this discussion as the Moon changes signs about every couple of days) in Capricorn - a sign known for looking ahead and working to carry out plans ... and alternately, for loses (often of stature or reputation) and the reality of life's consequences and world/worldly responses - either for what we've done prior to now or what we're in the throws of doing (or trying to do) now.

By January 4th, that 'solidity' of thrust ... that's going to begin to change. It may not be obvious or evident in any giant way, but as Venus and Mercury move into Aquarius (with Mars already in Aquarius) the emphasis (and thus our mental space) is going to stop being so absorbed by or focused on hard facts and more prone to considering (read: zeroing in on) and responding to things as being relative to other issues, matters and details - much of which is going to be  basically pertaining to those eternal things which form the basis for our life: home, family, mortality ... the land, sea and sky, and all which comes from, or abides in any such location.

Just keep thinking 'basics.'

That shift (the shift in thinking and focus) is going to alter the flow of things. Mars in Aquarius - in pragmatic terms - often represents the motivation to get something done on a broadly unified scale even as it tends to impact, fragment and break apart that which may still be cohesive, but which no longer serves a positive function in that state ... which makes what's going to happen now in many ways dependent on what  what we have come into this period doing, feeling, and being motivated by. With Pluto having just entered the shadow of its 2015 cycle there are things which are going to change or be transformed - some of which at least are going to reflect Pluto's ongoing approach to fixed star Vega, charisma's star. That Pluto isn't going to conjunct Vega (exactly) during 2015 is actually a sign that more and more is going to change and that many of the things we have been 'enchanted' or moved by in times or years past are on the move. They're going to change - and no one can stop that change, insistent though they may be.

For the Mercury watchers (that would be most of us) there's another interesting note to attach to this Mercury-entering-Aquarius moment ... namely that as Mercury enters Aquarius (Venus having already done so), that's also the same date that Mercury will be entering its retrograde shadow as the Mercury retrograde which begins on January 21st (UT/+0) at 17 Aquarius will in time back down to 1 Aquarius - and from 0 to 1 degrees (the movement of one degree) is something Mercury does rather swiftly.

The net of this takes us back to that 'subtle shift' of attitude, 'vibe' or perspective mentioned in terms of Venus and Mercury exiting Capricorn in the sense that though there is a tendency for much of the world to hit the ground running on January 2nd (even if the Orthodox Church hasn't yet celebrated Christmas, meaning their holiday season isn't over yet!) ... that this year that 'hitting the ground running' is going to be colored or affected by the fact that pretty much the whole of January 2015 is going to be a 'hurry up so we can slow down' (or stop) exercise which will manifest in any of a billion ways, hastening and hustling us through the first couple of weeks so that come the 21st, we know what we're attending to.

Or at least waiting for. (At least that's the thought.)

 January 2015 by Element

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And it's not like we're likely to be entirely unjustified. Looking at the month by element, both planets most associated with the rise and fall of lives, regimes, religions and plans in general (Jupiter and Saturn) are now both in fire signs. Added to that, Uranus is also in a fire sign, and since all three planets are in separate signs, what we have implied here is a grand trine (ongoing and virtually immutable) flow of energies which we will be living with until Jupiter exits Leo this coming August, describing a period of time where we can change things and change our approach to life (our 'relationship' to our world) ... or we can have our world thrust change upon us.

(Take your pick.)

That Uranus is going to perfect its conjunction to the lunar South Node this month promises fractious relationships, startling news/events and a number of personal breakthroughs - some of which may be fairly breathtaking (though what that means is individual - some people gasp long before others do!) ... and that it will do as Uranus - which is now in direct motion - is going to be beginning to "close in" on slower-moving Pluto in anticipation of perfecting the Uranus-Pluto square which has been with us now for quite a while symbolizing eruptions of uncontrollable, transpersonal events which are quite literally changing our world.

That square won't perfect until mid-March. But let's just say that the closer we get to Uranus perfecting its conjunction to the lunar South Node (which occurs on January 19th), the more flexing and innovative thinking is going to be called for not just in external life and in terms of what we do (or choose to do/not do) but in who we are - and because this event is currently traversing degrees 12, 13 and 14 of respective signs (with the conjunction of Uranus/Node occurring at 13 Aries-Libra)(the South Node being in Aries and the North Node being in Libra) this entire month is likely to be particularly focal for anyone who with natal placements at one of these degrees in any sign... if particularly (she says, thinking of people in the news) those among us with primary chart indicators (Sun, Moon, Ascendant/Descendant, Midheaven/Nadir) at 13 Aries, Libra, Cancer or Capricorn, followed by those with placements at 13 Pisces, Taurus, Virgo and/or Scorpio.

The first group will face or be facing issues directly. The second group will be facing them obliquely, which is to say that because 'Thing A' happens, 'Consideration B' becomes important.

As to the nature of this particular ripple in the works, this transit - Uranus/South Node - is about a 'shake up' (or shift) in how we relate to our own nature as well as that of others. And though the likes of those news makers (the two I'm thinking of being politicians) and myself (my Midheaven is at 13 Capricorn) are likely to be particularly impacted on a core and/or internal level, there are going to be plenty of things floating around for everyone to be bouncing off of (or around about) - all while possibly getting bruised by, or through the process of participating in doing all that relating, relational or relationship tra-la.

Also: none of this is optional. If you're thinking you'll just put everything on hold or hide in some mental (or other type of) hole, you certainly have the choice to do that but the world (that thing you're supposed to be relating to and working on your relationship with?) ... the world will have moved on without you, which brings this all back to the most important thing I ever heard one of my astrology teachers (Robert Hand, as it happens) say: use the energy wisely, lest it use you unwisely. 

Plus that's not all ... (she said, well aware that she may be sounding a bit like a late-night infomercial, which is ridiculous seeing as I'm about as bad at sales and marketing as any human being has ever been) ... January is also playing host to an approaching square to Neptune (in Pisces) by a Saturn which is newly in Sagittarius. That will set in virtually as soon as the new year dawns (read: on January 2nd), and it's likely to be felt as an on-and-off 'haunting' awareness which we're all going to also be contending with not just this month ... and not even just into March, as in the case of the current 'ramping up' of various Uranus/Pluto square pressures and situational anxieties. 

No ... with Neptune-Saturn, we're not getting off that easily: this transit will be with us in various forms through November of 2015, promising all sorts of issues having to do with habits and things we are habituated by - and the many forms of 'addiction' which riddle our lives and world, be that an addiction to a substance or a belief or a perspective on sex, love, work, money, power, violence, happiness, exercise, food, politics - or anything else. Saturn-Neptune contacts being always about reality versus hope and facts versus denial in favor of something "prettier" (or at least more appealing), this is the sort of lengthy square aspect which we would expect to manifest both in our lives and through things in life which effects lives on a global and somewhat 'indistinct' (or) 'impersonal' way or scale.

The Saturn side of this brings the effort to structure, restructure, limit or withstand to the table where the Neptune energetic will inspire ... and then again, also dissolve, whether 'dissolution' or 'dissolving' means eliminating that which stands between you and something (or two separate things) where the elimination of some factor, thought, issue is taken on either because of a depth of feeling which is not only not about the Self (Neptune = lack of personal or individual ego) or because that which we have been sure of comes to no longer function or serve a positive purpose.

Mind you, any of this can be positive: squares ask us to balance different functionalities, much as an engineer balances the substance and structure of a wall against the structure and function of a ceiling. Then again, any of this can be detrimental. And all of it (or any of it) can be hugely informative, most of all as to what the realities and facts really are ... as opposed to what we might want them to be, or what we were hoping they were or would become.

All of which is far more about us than others or our world ... which is probably worth a thought or two.

And fortunately (read: whether we like it or not) Mercury retrograde is going to donate just that dynamic to our universally human personal cause.

So we are going to be learning something going forward. But what are we about to learn - and learn about?
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Dateblog: May 2013

Oh, what a difference a day makes…as May begins, Mercury joins the Taurus parade. So for the first week-plus of May, we have all four personal planets in Taurus, making this a period which is all about personal security. A lot of people will focus on money or military matters, but what this is really about is how we feel about ourselves.

After all, if people all felt good about themselves there would be no war and there wouldn’t be any of this ‘rat race’ competition and the need to play ‘show and tell’ to make ourselves feel better than somebody else.

And this basic sense of ‘security’ and what that’s about, and whether what we’re involved in is ‘worth it’ – all that is getting shaken up at the moment by a Solar Eclipse at 19 Taurus which will take place on May 10^th.

How seriously this affects you depends on whether 19 Taurus directly aspects your chart. We all live in the same world, of course…so wherever this eclipse lands in your chart you’ll feel the effect of change in terms described by that horoscope house (and the sign on its cusp in your personal chart). Whoever we are, this eclipse is going to test us. With Saturn sitting in the opposition sign (and retrograde) and Pluto (retrograde) in a trine from Capricorn, we’re all having to deal with questions of how to operate in this world. Maybe you’re trying to do something new. If so, you’ll be wondering how to make it work. You may feel intimidated by what it takes to get to your goals, which would be your sort of ‘test of security.’ Or maybe you’re someone who thought everything was going fine until it started not going all that well. For you, figuring out why things have taken a turn for the worst and maybe having to deal with the ‘price’ of bad decisions…or maybe just decisions which have “gone beyond their expiration date” (as they say in food packaging)…the money, the emotional investment, the social status, the just feeling your life was on the right track – those may any one of them (or all of them) be your ‘test of security.’

Every time we have a solar eclipse we hear of some public figure who has been shown up by eclipse forces. In Taurus, the likely issues are food, money, lavish expenditures and the like. And since Venus will slide into Gemini on the 9^th, just scantily ahead of the eclipse, this is likely to be ‘news’ about someone’s choices.

The ‘up’ side here is definitely how, with Venus in Gemini (as of May 9^th) the pace of life will pick up, as will our tolerance to talk about things and hear others out. We’ll start pushing to change things, make new choices and get things done, though with Mars in Taurus life may seem…well…a little trying.

(Who am I kidding? For some of us things are going to be a LOT trying!)

Still…once Mercury enters Gemini on the 15^th information and ideas will begin flowing and discussions will proceed. Options, outlets, plans and opinions will still be under scrutiny (by ourselves and the world) and that will be a constant to live with throughout May. But about the time that Plutino Orcus (representing consequences) goes direct in Virgo on the 17^th, we’ll be in a better position to understand what things will ‘cost’ us…maybe in time, maybe in money, maybe in sheer effort or the having to deal with the process emotionally. It would be typical of an Orcus station in Virgo to realize just how complicated a process can be. Or how something you thought of as relatively little can have a big effect.

The big kids (read: the real adults) among us will pull up their socks (and whatever else) and undertake to do what needs doing without squandering opportunities with an eye to quality and standards. Understanding and working through problems will be accepted as part of the process of reaching one’s goals in due time. The non-big kids (read: the immature among us) will be making excuses and blaming others about now, making this a time to learn a bit more about the difference between ‘excuses’ and ‘explanations.’ It’s okay to make a mistake and to understand the problem so long as you own the problem and do your level best to cope with it. What’s not okay is to make your problem everybody else’s problem!

Those who are attending to their p’s and q’s (or that may be peas and cues) will head into the Sun’s Gemini ingress (on the 20^th) and May’s next big event – another Lunar Eclipse (at 4 Sagittarius on May 25th) - with an open mind, cautious optimism, piqued curiosity and decent results. But then, there will be those intent on blatantly ignoring life’s bottom line and the reality of how life (on the big stage) works. Those people will find what they want to do either won’t work at all, or that it will result in the loss of something they hadn’t planned on having to give up. 4 Sagittarius is a degree known for moral virtue, and this is pretty much the ‘test’ of the moment, a test in which life will show us all which side of that ‘moral line’ we’re really on despite whatever it is that we insist.

And for some, this will lead to irritation and even anger, no question. As of May 30^th, Saturn will retrograde back into 5 degrees of Scorpio. And that will put Saturn in trine to Neptune at 5 Pisces just as Neptune is moving forward to take its station in early June. This is a recipe for the ‘isolation of opinions’ which for some will be self righteous and for others will be despairing. But sure as shootin’ (which may be an unfortunate reference), being that Mercury will move into Cancer on May 31^st as Mars moves into Gemini, fur – verbal or otherwise – is going to fly.

This Mars/Mercury combination can be constructive. It can be a signature of choosing a better course for your future through talking things over with those you trust best (even if that’s yourself). But for many, this Mars-Mercury-Saturn-Neptune quantity will be either very bleak or very incendiary or mark a time of irritation or frustration.

It all depends on how secure you are to begin with…and whether you are willing to accept that your insecurities are all about your life journey’s and personal development.
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Armstrong, Assange and O’Neal: Illustrating Saturn / Neptune Connections

 

 A beautiful photo of Planet Neptune taken by Voyager 2 in August 1989 showing the Great Dark Spot (middle, left) and 'Dark Spot 2' near the bottom. Both 'spots' are indications of massive storm activity on the planet.

 (photo credit: NASA, Voyager 2 Team)

There are things about charts which over many thousands of years astrologers have learned to recognize. So you may sit down with an astrologer and your chart and five seconds later they may make some devastating observation about your almost drying when you were born (or how your mother almost did in giving birth to you). Or how you’ve lost a child or a sibling.

Or that you have a problem with addiction, addictive substances or the denial which is so typically part of addiction, but which can take other shapes.

The symbol of this kind of ‘boundary issue’ (which can be with others or with/within our Self) is most often astrologically indicated by challenging aspects between Saturn and Neptune. Saturn is about life’s hard realities. The ‘rules of the game.’ The laws of our land (and the penalties for breaking them). The time we are given in which to live. Our responsibilities in life. The need to make an effort to survive in this world, whatever that means to you. By sign, by house placement, by degree, by aspect, Saturn means all these things.

Saturn is the fact. The reality.

And Neptune? Neptune is where reality meets the undefined. Neptune symbolizes the melting away of reality or realities strictures. And in that, Neptune invites us to see beyond that which we know…or to ignore that which we know.

Obviously this relationship between Neptune and Saturn isn’t one astrologers have been looking at for thousands of years as Neptune was only discovered in the mid/late 1800’s. But with that as the given, that astrologers have so quickly come to see the correlation between hard aspects (squares, oppositions, inconjuncts, semi-sextiles) between Saturn and Neptune as problematic…? That isn’t haste – that’s a sign of how obvious the astrological challenge really is.

When I was learning astrology, I was told that a square between Saturn and Neptune in the natal chart indicates alcoholism. I’ve since found that’s often true (scary often true). But I’ve also noticed that sign, house and aspects also matter. Where Saturn is well placed, that helps. Where we can see some sort of ‘self-reflective’ mechanism in the chart providing feedback, that often helps (especially if it’s nicely placed).

Then we come to the opposition. And in the world of astrological Saturn-Neptune oppositions, Lance Armstrong is evidently the poster boy for what can happen and the really painful quality of good-and-bad existing in the same space which I talk about so often as ‘the astrological door swinging both ways.’

Oppositions are about ‘facing’ things. That’s the very nature of the opposition – one object ‘faces’ the other across the chart. In this case, there’s the ‘reality’ of the Self-sense (Saturn) with Neptune, the ‘is it real or is it Memorex?’ symbol as the image in the mirror.

In our charts, Neptune can be a point of inspiration. Then again, they can be a point of great disappointment. Astrologers will often tell you to ignore the ‘thing’ you think Neptune represents and simply ‘go with the best ideal you have’ in that regard. ‘Have faith,’ they’ll say. And the reason they say that is because where Neptune is concerned, the thing you are so sure of is the thing which is most likely to be untrue. And that thing you can’t imagine being true? That’s the truth of the thing.

This is why Neptune is very often associated with disappointments. But it doesn’t have to be. Neptune is meant to motivate us…and what we do, when funneled through the Neptune of our chart, that should inspire and motivate others. It’s when we focus on that image and believe it that we get in trouble – hence Neptune’s association with fame and “believing your own press.” Enjoyment of the fantasy is one thing. Expecting it to be real? Quite another.

As ‘outcome ruler’ of Pisces, Neptune is associated with great works of an inspiring nature. So as we come to Lance Armstrong’s chart, we can see his Saturn-Neptune opposition as his having tapped into the mass consciousness, particularly as a world sports figure who overcame cancer.

 Lance Armstrong

September 18, 1971 - Plano TX  (CDT +5)

(no time known - Aries chart format)

Pisces is the sign of the underdog. Pisces is the sign of charity (and thus, charities). Pisces is the sign of toxicity. And entertainment. And disappointments. And addiction. And inspiration. And faith.

All those qualities are can be evoked when Neptune opposes Saturn because Saturn will symbolize the ‘realization’ of all these qualities – the bringing them to be ‘in reality.’

I’ll give you another example of a Gemini Saturn in opposition to a Sagittarian Jupiter: Julian Assange – another ‘folk hero’ and inspiration to millions who has been having trouble with the legal system for ignoring the various “rules” in life and in this world.

Julian Assange

July 3, 1971 - 4 p.m. (AEST -10) - Townsville, Australia

Both of these men come out of the same astrological “vintage”: the year 1971. And while arguably both men are very famous, the subtle differences in their charts describe why (and how) Julian Assange has had better luck keeping his rise and fall a bit more quiet. Both men have Jupiter conjunct Neptune – a sign of ‘connecting to the world.’ But Julian’s Jupiter is in Scorpio, a sign which tends to be a bit more secretive or ‘held in secret’ where Lance Armstrong’s Jupiter is in the media and ‘information’ sign of  Sagittarius.

 Julian Assange at New Media Days 2009 in Copenhagen

(photo cropped when posted)

We could also point to Julian’s Jupiter as being intercepted in the 12th house – a “kept under wraps” sort of signal if there ever was one (and a ‘doubling up’ of the Scorpio secrecy quality). And yes, there is the fact that Assange’s Neptune-Saturn is laid across the Ascendant/Descendant…which, if you’re looking for indicator of Teflon coated personalities, that would be a good one. Just like Teflon, Julian can be scraped and made vulnerable. But with Jupiter in the 12th (a position known as “the angel on my shoulder”) it’s likely that in the end Julian Assange will weather his bad choices with some sense of comfort.

The bottom line here is that Jupiter/Neptune, as an astrological combination has played out very potently for both men. Julian Assange’s role as ‘front man’ for Wikileaks has exposed a lot of very Scorpio-like information. And Lance Armstrong has both spread the word of cycling as a sport and health (particularly as regards cancer) in a very Jupiter-in-Sagittarius sort of way.

And yet in their own lives, both men have had problems which are very much the ‘image’ of Jupiter conjunct Neptune in opposition to Saturn: a problem with ‘realistic boundaries’ or knowing how far they could go…which many obviously think of as 'what they could get away with.’

Another famous name to toss in here (toss seeming to be the right term when we talk about basketball players)…Shaquille O’Neal.

 Shaquille O'Neil

March 6, 1972 - 8:00 a.m. (EST +5) - Newark, New Jersey

In Shaquille’s chart, several things differ when compared with the horoscopes of Julian Assange or Lance Armstrong. The first (and most obvious to this astrologer) is how tied into the lunar nodes his Saturn and Neptune are. Plus this is no ‘ordinary’ tie – this is a tie which embodies all the ‘make an effort’ qualities associated with a fairly rare configuration: a grand sextile.

People with grand sextiles – a figure which is also known as the ‘star of David’ or two overlapping trines – either try hard or don’t try at all.

Lucky for Shaquille, he falls in the former group – and he’s made good on his promise. The lunar nodes always indicating relationships of a personal and societal type, Shaquille is a man who is far more prone to act as part of his society than say, Julian Assange, whose Neptune/Ascendant-Saturn/Descendant signature gives him (among other things) a tendency to feel distanced from society at some level.

By definition, those who feel distanced from anything are those who are likely to shrug – first and last – at the repercussions of what they may do. And this goes doubly where Neptune is involved.

Shaquille O’Neal’s chart gives no indication that he doesn’t feel part of his world. On the contrary – the lunar nodes positioned in the 10th (north) and 4th (south) houses tied to his Saturn/Neptune in the 2nd and 8th is a pretty clear picture of Shaquille’s life as a vehicle of growing awareness. In learning that he had value (Saturn in 2) he recognized that among his fans were many people who would never have his luck or talents (the Scorpio Moon with Neptune in 8 would signify this). The combination has led to his recognizing that he needed to build a ‘better life’ for himself…and that he had the ability to do just that.

That door swings both ways too...as he acts in and for the world, the world reacts to its ongoing relationship with Shaquille O'Neal.

That's not to say we'll always love what he does - or that everything Shaq every does will be golden. But the connections we see to his Saturn-Neptune opposition, particularly through the Nodal axis, are indicators that whether fabulous or iffy, We the Public will never feel the 'disconnect' that people have commented on with regards to Lance Armstrong's interview with Oprah and which Julian Assange (with a little Scorpio Jupiter help) seems to be master of by either habit, preference or personal definition.
 

If you ever want to find out how tall you aren't, surround yourself with a

pro basketball team. I'm sure this is part of what President GW Bush found

 out when he invited Shaq and his fellow Los Angeles Lakers to the

White House in January of 2002.

This doesn’t mean life has been all posies for Shaquille. Nor should we expect that he's sweetness incarnate in every moment of his life. You could of course say 'who is?' and be right enough there, but the astrological indicator I'm thinking of is his critical degree Aries Venus in the first house conjunct Sedna and in opposition to Black Moon Lilith. That's no full-time personality or relationship picnic, to begin with, and seen through the lens of perspective tends to say that exactly that which sets Shaquille O'Neal apart can manifest equally as a tendency to be a wee bit egocentric.

But we’re getting off the subject. Back to Saturn-Neptune. Maybe the biggest difference between the Shaquille O’Neal and Julian Assange or Lance Armstrong lies in one thing: the fact that Shaquille’s Saturn is at 0 Gemini and the other two have Saturn at 6 Gemini.

6 Gemini is a degree which appears to have a quality of notable stubbornness. We’ve talked about this degree before, and we’ll be talking about it again rather shortly. Why? Because Jupiter is sitting at 6 Gemini, and is about to go direct at 6 Gemini on January 30th.

(More on that in a different blog post yet to come.)

But if you’re looking for a celestial reason for ‘why now?’ Why would Lance Armstrong suddenly go as public with his confession as he has been public in his career and through his Livestrong charity, this is Lance Armstrong’s natal Jupiter (in Sagittarius) being opposed by transiting Jupiter lingering and going direct on the degree of his Saturn.

In general, 6 Gemini is a degree noted for a ‘separation’ of emotions and intellect. So when we listen to Lance Armstrong parsing his words, when we wonder why he doesn’t get it that he can’t split those hairs because the situation is pretty baldly what it is, it’s to understand – he’s not parsing these ideas for US. He’s doing it because he can’t put these two things together. To do so would bring a huge, huge (Neptune) disappointment with self crashing down on Lance. We saw a little of it when in part two of his interview with Oprah he teared up when talking about his son.

6 Gemini is a degree which seems to act a bit like unmixed mental epoxy. As long as I don’t put these things together, they won’t stick in my brain…and thus, the natives think, it won’t stick to me.

With Neptune in opposition however, what they’re not seeing is that once the ‘Neptune dream image’ is cracked, everyone else sees. The cycling emperor is naked, whether or not Lance wants to look in that mirror and we see it even if he won’t.

This photo of 5-minute epoxy illustrates exactly what I'm talking about with regards

to 6 Gemini. Until the two parts of the epoxy are joined, there is no cohesion - 

there is no 'sticking' or strength in joining. The choice implied in this degree is

to make a joining of things against the native tendency to

keep 'the two things separate.'

(photo credit: Taktoa, February 2010)

The drive with 6 Gemini seems to often be backwards, and this may be the greatest manifestation of Neptune in opposition to Saturn with Saturn in this degree. Having known a few ‘regular folks’ with this configuration in their natal horoscopes there seems to be a marked tendency for these people to think that if they construct the image, they can fit their life into it. To them, it therefore doesn’t really matter how ‘plastic’ the construct is. Their eyes are in part fixed (or fixated) through that Neptunian lens on what ‘they’ think of anyone.

If they can only be thought of as someone great, then they can be a great person.

The problem is, that’s not how it works. To aim at the Neptune ‘ideal’ and think that will change your reality of Self isn’t any way to live. But the desire to think that way…that can be addictive. The dichotomy between the reality and the dream can cause people with this configuration to delude themselves, whether that’s with money, sex, drugs, fame, excuses which are lies which are told to yourself over and over and over again…

But in the end, Sagittarius is about what we learn. It starts out as the idea, in this particular version of the Saturn-Neptune opposition, the object is to (Saturn in Gemini) choose to be who you really are…and to recognize – how that is good enough.

Saturn-Neptune connections are difficult. Having to grapple with the reality of life and our dreams or hopes or fears in the same breath can be terribly trying. When I say that the square is often alcoholism that’s true. But with that comes the understanding that in part alcoholism happens because to live a reality-based life is a ‘sobering’ prospect which some of us just don’t deal with very well.

In that vein, Saturn opposition Neptune will ‘ground’ us in reality, no matter how hard we try to avoid that reality. (Hint: don’t buy the dream and try and make it real, build a reality to be your dream.) The point is that we are each different and no matter where our Saturns and Neptunes fall in our chart, learning how to (Neptune) accept and (Saturn) work on/with who we really are is part of our task as human beings.

In the process of going about their orbits of the Sun, transiting planets do meet up with each other as viewed from here on Earth (thank goodness not out there in space!). This 'transiting conjunction' occurs on a specified schedule which differs for each pair of planets. Known as the 'synodic cycle' the magic Saturn/Neptune number is 37 years. So we saw natal (and transiting) Saturn/Neptune oppositions in 1971 and 1972 (retrogrades stretch the pattern out), we saw them again in 2006 and 2007 (from Leo to Aquarius) and we'll see them again in 2042 and 2043 in Scorpio and Neptune.

Actually...in case you care, that next set of oppositions will have Saturn about where it is now with Neptune in fairly early Taurus about where we're going to see eclipses in November 2013 and April 2014. (This I offer as one of those 'make a note in the family diary' things.)

The 'foundation' point of each one of these cycles being very important, it pays to look back at those as well. The opposition of 2006 and 2007 is founded on a Saturn/Neptune conjunction in 1989 at 11 Capricorn, which is itself conjunct Facies and in opposition to Chiron conjunct Alhena. If you've been keeping up with astrological doings at all, you probably know that Pluto has just finished a long conjunction of Facies and we're not out of the woods just yet in that regard. 

Link to post: 'A Month of Pluto/Facies'

The 'what we want' and the complications which go into building or taking apart long-standing structures social or personal are all part of Pluto/Facies. It's easy to guess that this 'dissembling' process will carry on as Pluto continues moving forward and rolls over this Saturn-Neptune 'sensitive point' at 11 Capricorn, too.

When will that happen? During 2013. In fact, Pluto will go station/retrograde this April at 11 Capricorn, having arrived in the degree during late February. That conjunction will continue through 2014, promoting conflict particularly in areas where we (the personal or collective/national 'we') aren't doing the required Cancerian Chiron/Alhena.

What this amounts to is how we can't get all headstrong (Chiron) about what our (Alhena) Purpose is in this world if or where doing so violates our prime purpose as a human being (or nation) born to build our own life or our own nation, never mind what anyone else thinks or thinks of us. 

 Constellation Gemini

Oh, shades of Saturn/Neptune.

Remember, this idea needs to be taken both on a personal as well as a separate, national or cultural question. Alhena's position as one of the 'feet' of Gemini twin Pollux (the 'eternally thoughtful' side of Gemini) is an indication of what it takes to be 'upstanding in this life or as part of this world.

Tracking back a cycle, the 1971-1972 Saturn-Neptune opposition is founded in the conjunction of 1953, which occurred at 21 Libra. Conjunct Kassandra, Spica and Arcturus while in opposition to Sedna, this is a message about several generations (the end of the Baby Boomers, the Yuppies and Gen X) which are going to be tempted to value 'them' or what 'they' have or what 'they' think of 'me' (or us, or what we have) more than what we can do. Kassandra in this mix doubles up on the Neptunian quality of making it hard to believe in one's abilities.

Yet when we can convert that energy of self doubt into a humility which offers, when we can have faith in what we know and our ability to do what we know and only what we know while being able to (Sedna) let go of wanting to pass the buck or otherwise abdicate our responsibilities to someone else....then, in time, Neptune-Saturn becomes 'I can hardly believe it!' in the 'how well we've done' rather than the eternal sense of being 'not good enough' in one way or another. 

One other item. I know of someone born with the Saturn-Neptune opposition of 1972 who has a child born under the Saturn-Neptune opposition of 2006-2007. When in writing this blog I came to realize that, my heart was tugged mightily. After all, there is that great truism about parenting: we cannot teach that we have not learned. In this case I can see where the lack of self worth of this parent is astrologically written into the book of life which will be that of the son.

But there's hope. As parents learn, so too do their children.

So there's hope for us all - as parents and as children of the human kind.

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Mary Shelley: A Woman and Her Frankenstein Monster

Born in England on August 30, 1797, the child named Mary Wollstonecraft Goodwin would grow up to be the author of one of the most famous stories in all of modern media fiction. Having by that time married to romanticist poet Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley comes to us as the author of Frankenstein.

 Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster - the above is a promo

photograph from the movie Bride of Frankenstein

Actually...that wasn't the title as first envisioned by the author. When Mary wrote the original story, she entitled it Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus.

It's an interesting reference, considering who the mythic Prometheus is and how like any writer, Mary Shelley's inspirations drew at least partly - if not greatly from her life.

Part of the basic Greek creation story, Prometheus is a Titan - a primal entity who helped form the world we know. In particular, he's a champion of mankind. As life and humans come into being everything is literally cold and raw on Earth - mankind has not yet acquired fire.

Prometheus steals fire for mankind, and for this is sentenced to be forever bound in chains and left exposed at the 'end of the world' where each day a giant eagle would come and feast on his liver.

  Prometheus Bound by Scott Eaton (c. 1996)

Like all mega Greek myths, there's a whole lot more to Prometheus. But that Prometheus gives the 'spark' of fire (metaphorically: light/knowledge/free will) to mankind is the crux of the Prometheus tale.

In the story Frankenstein (no matter how you parse the title), the creator of the monster is Frankenstein. And when he brings his monster to life, he's attempting to be a modern-day Prometheus. Sin? No sin? Just because we can do something, should we? It's a question still being debated. And probably for good reason.

As for the story of her life, Mary's was a dramatic one, beginning with the death of her mother when Mary was just eleven days old.

 Mary Shelley - natal chart (August 30, 1797) 

Going to the date recorded for this event, the transits to Mary's natal chart are Mars conjunct Sun, Sun square the Nodes, and Sun opposition Sedna, with the Nodes having squared her natal Sedna a couple of days prior. 

The numerical link here is Mary's Nodes and Sedna being both numerically at 18 of respective signs. But that the Sun would 'set off' Nodes and Sedna as the transiting Nodes (which linger in a degree often for a week or more at a time) squares Sedna - that's the classic example of what astrologers call a "trigger transit" where the Sun (life) is acting as a trigger to "fire off" the effects of the larger, 'more major' transit. 

The key here is understanding Sedna as symbolizing the struggle between immature needs to be taken care of (or parented) and the Nodes as how we intersect in our life. Mars/Sun is almost a sidebar, though that this conjunction occurs in the 4th house of family is apt. And there is that the Sun symbolizes not just life or will but men in general: obviously with his wife gone, Mary's dad had to take over parenting.

The combination however, suggests that without her mother (dad didn't remarry for a few years) Mary was both more dependent on men and forced to be independent of them. Or indeed anyone, as her life suggests in the long run.

It's an interesting contribution to our learning about Sedna, a point only discovered in 2004. We know a lot from the myth, but refining our understanding of Sedna through its function in many a chart is ongoing work.

Anyway...so Mary's dad remarries when Mary is four, the effects of which are interestingly visible when we set up a solar return bi-wheel:

Inner chart: Mary's natal chart

Outer wheel: Mary's solar return for when she turned four

With a bi-wheel, what we look to do is compare positions. And here we see the (in yellow - outer ring) Moon at 17 Gemini very much conjunct her natal North Node at 18 Gemini (in black - inner ring).

This is a point of interest to us starting with the idea of what Gemini is and represents. On a  personal and/or psychological level Gemini often means 'from many things we choose one or many' (choice or prioritizing). Against this we have the mundane Gemini of everyday life: the 'more than one' or 'many,' which is apt in this sense as when coupled with the Moon (women) is very much a picture of Mary getting a 'second mother.' 

The woman her father married was also named Mary (obviously no one was taking pity on future biographers) ...Mary Jane Clairmont. Apparently she was the neighbor - another interesting Gemini quotient, since Gemini represents 'things local or within daily reach.'

So dad reached out and married the neighbor and we see it represented in the solar chart as Moon (woman) in Gemini (local to me) conjunct the societal Nodes (marriage as a socially/societally endorsed institution).

In 1814 at the tender age of 16 (on her way to being 17, obviously) Mary began a romance with one of her political father's political followers - one Percy Shelley.

Yes, that Shelley - the famous romantic poet...

Percy Bysshe Shelley

...the fly in the ointment here being that Shelley was already married. In fact, his wife was expecting at the time Mary and Percy met. Nevertheless, the couple eloped on July 28, 1814 amidst the emotional upheaval of eclipses and a shower of transits on Mary's chart suggesting that on one hand she was desperate to escape where she was and get on with "her" life (that independence thing) with an inner sense of 'is this right?' and a little Mercury station at 23 Leo taking place on the 27th atop her natal Hybris ('can I get away with it?').

The combination marks this as a truly fateful moment, one she probably struggled with as over the next couple of years she and Percy struggled not just with debt or criticism, but also with the death of a prematurely-born daughter - oh, echoes of Mary's childhood!

And maybe it is here that we see how Mary's life really works: as she and Percy spent a summer in Switzerland during the latter days of Mary's 18th year she conceived the story which would become that we know as Frankenstein.

 A handwritten page of 'Frankenstein' in first draft

 

This brings us to recalling that the cycle of the lunar nodes (aka the Nodes of the Moon) is 18.6 years long. Remembering that the Nodes are all about Things Social, Societal and Worldly...and that Mary's life was marked from the first by that Node-square-Sedna transit barely after she was born it seems telling that as Mary passes this 18.6 year mark she and Percy take off for the Alps amidst pressure from creditors, scorn about  their relationship and the death of a prematurely-born child.

And there she writes a story about giving life to a monster.

Not that things stopped there; it was a particularly fortuitous if gruesome year. As December is half way along comes news of a suicide. Percy's wife has drowned herself in Hyde Park's famous Serpentine, a body of water which while substantial (28 acres is its current recorded size) is not all that deep - 40 feet maximum.

But apparently that was deep enough.

The death is marked by one global transit - Sedna going direct: internal needs in forward motion or coming to the fore. Added to this is North Node (worldly/societal/social doings) in an effortless trine to Mary's natal Chiron - the need to act in order to heal one's life. So obviously the wife committing suicide was to Mary maybe painful as an event, but also something which cleared the way for her to heal her own pain.

And this Mary did: she and Percy were married on December 30, 1816 with a Jupiter square Mars recalling her early days (mom's death at Mars conjunct Sun) but with Jupiter here strongly poised in Sagittarius (it's primary sign of rulership) if in a bad position (the 6th house) conjunct asteroid Hel, TNO Typhon and opposition Scheherazade.

It's an interesting picture, this...Scheherazade is the telling tales to save your own life and clearly Jupiter's opposition at the marriage speaks to what she probably felt "should" have been a happy ending - a feeling free at last. 

But no. Typhon being both one's most primal, primitive urges and as a TNO something which 'comes upon you' like an erupting volcano, especially conjunct Hel (bad choices) we get a picture of not all being well. Square to Mars in the natal 4th, this may simply have been Mary hating that her wedding was tainted by the first wife's suicide. For all we know she caught 'Hel' from her father. Or maybe she or Percy had own issues with the marriage coming a scant two weeks after the suicide. 

Then of course there are all those noodling thoughts one might have if they were writing a modern TV drama. Did Mary or Percy in any way 'influence' said suicide? 

The solar return going into Mary's 19th year is quite evocative on everything taking place, especially seeing as she would have been in the middle of drafting the still famous Frankenstein...

Mary Shelley - Solar Return 1816

That's a particularly trying Grand Cross - and Grand Crosses are simply never a picnic. As above, the picture is that of a square, the corners of which are in oppositions and squares to each other. What one might try to lightheartedly refer to as 'a cross we are forced to bear' (or confront) generally ends up being an endless set of choices. Or demands from every quadrant, all of which cannot be met without upsetting some other applecart, schedule or personal aim, relationship or need.

This one is either made even more problematic or partially resolved by two of the corners of the cross being intercepted. Interceptions either function 'internal fantasies' (dreams, hopes, escapist designs) or the willingness to subjugate yourself to service. And either way, they're dicey.

But in this situation, what we may well be looking at is a positive. At least to us, if not to Mary. With the present/past tense injury/need to heal (Chiron) in emotional, fantastical Pisces in opposition with Venus (creation), Mercury (thought/ideas/activity) and Mars (motivation, impetus) in work-oriented Virgo, she may well have needed to 'do something!' constructive. And thus what we may well have here is a picture of Mary investing time and effort in that which on the world stage (worldly Nodes across the 'I reach out to others' Asc/Dsc) is unquestionably her lasting authoring masterpiece: Frankenstein.

Not that she had yet survived her the early marking of her chart. Again, the natal...

 

There are two dwarf planets very high in this chart: Pluto (transformation, life/death) and Sedna. Pluto stands in opposition to Mary's badly place Virgo Mars in the house of family and Sedna is technically in Ptolemaic aspect only to the Nodes. With Neptune in a physical degree in the house of children in a tight trine to Saturn (also in a physical degree) poorly placed by sign and house in the 1st, we should not be surprised that while in Italy, Mary's second child also died.

Were it today in fact, we might suspect a physical problem with pregnancy. Or maybe some sort of 'substance use/abuse' - Saturn-Neptune contacts being famous for such.

Looking at this chart it seems possible that Mary Shelley might have even had sort of chronic depression which led to Munchhausen by Proxy Syndrome (a psychological setup which compels the parent to harm the child) either for attention (Munchhausen's) or perhaps because her child psyche never survived the death of her own mother. Not having yet grown into a sense of perspective, children often  internalize things which 'go bad' in early life as having been 'their fault.' So in those days of minimal pre/post natal care, could having her mother die so soon after giving birth have imprinted Mary with mom's death being her fault? And does this make her "the monster"?

Richard Rothwell's portrait of Mary Shelley

 
Fortunately, her third child survived. But Mary had not yet escaped tragedy. On July 8, 1822 - in what seems like an eerie echo of agony past, Percy dies when out sailing. This occurring before Mary's birthday on August 30th, we look at the solar return for 1821 for this event to be imaged. Here is that chart in a bi-wheel.

Again, the inner chart is Mary's natal chart, the outer ring is her solar return for 1821...

Inner wheel: Mary's natal chart

Outer wheel: Mary's solar return chart for 1821

   
The outer ring Neptune at 0 Capricorn sitting directly under the Descendant - one's binding agreements with others and traditionally, the house of marriage as a bond between two people - shows her union with Percy being rather literally 'dissolved.' That the mythic Neptune is ruler of the oceans? Totally apt. That Capricorn is ruled by that Saturn we just described as being unhappily and poorly placed in the first is the sign of her continuing sorrow.

It's also probably the signature of her death. Mary Shelly died at the age of 53 from a brain tumor. Saturn is all about limits, walls and metaphorically the 'hardening' which happens in us literally (cysts, arthritis, tumors) associated with our ceasing to grow.

And yet she left us that one disturbingly wonderful story which in asking us to suspend our belief of what's possible, allows us to all grow a little more...and maybe deal with our own monsters.

Mary Shelley: August 30, 1797 - February 1, 1851

(a miniature by Reginald Easton said to have been taken from her death mask.) 

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