Jupiter Direct

Jupiter and two of its moons, Europa and Callisto as photographed

by the Cassini spacecraft

(photo credit NASA JPL, December 2000)

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Jupiter stands for growth - and all that we do, growing in our own abilities, to achieve that growth.

That said, Jupiter is also all about excess. So in one sense, Jupiter is about learning what we can do ... and on the other, it’s about all those not-so-nice things which happen when we go beyond the limit.

After all, that’s learning too, right?

In going direct at 12 Leo, Jupiter is speaking to days ahead and a chance - the opportunity - to broaden our regard. And in that, it also stands for what we are going to learn or end up teaching ourselves about the difference between enjoying we have and are and going through whatever it takes to recognize what the difference (or differences) are between the pluses of our life (specified as pluses - our ‘fortunate existence,’ being the way one astrologer put it) and what life is like for others of differing fortunes.

Or to put it another way, this is the Jupiter Principle - the ability and opportunity to expand what we know and experience on every level being applied to Leo, which is to say, specifically to the degree 12 Leo, which simply by placement (as part of the middle ten degrees of some sign) we know to be all about how we feel ... and our about ‘things Leo.’

And what is Leo all about? On a mundane level, Leo is about doing things we like to do. Or which we want to see ourselves learning how to do, learning how to be - and (of course) being a ‘winner’ at in the long run. (Probably preferably a short term long run, but that’s just par for the course.) Leo is all about developing our Self in a more-or-less ‘applied’ way - it’s not about ‘who am I?’ so much as ‘what am I capable of doing?’.

Leo degrees embrace a breadth of latitude - Leo energies are famously all about wanting to do our things our way (and please don’t tell me that I’m wrong) ... against which we should always remember that Leo energies are energies which are not-yet-mature or matured. Some take this ‘there’s still more to learn’ as a wonderful thing, celebrating how they’re not obsolete and haven’t yet met their limit - and others are just offended that the world doesn’t, hasn’t and evidently isn’t peachy keen about the idea of having to acknowledge each and every one of anyone’s Leo opinions as regally and universally correct.

There’s an air of nobility about Leos and the attitudes and aptitudes we see associated with Leo degrees in any chart, and wherever we see Leo in the chart, that’s the area of life where we’re going to see much charm, much talent and much dynamism on display and being utilized, if intermittently at best -just like the lion on the veldt which sleeps the better part of its day, Leo degrees do require some down time.

And maybe for you, this ‘on/off’ or ‘work/relax’ rhythm is something you have learned about ...or something you need to learn about. Or maybe you’re been through a lot over these past months and are now determined to use your time or abilities more knowingly or effectively, that last term being one of the bugaboos on Leo’s list.

And why would ‘effectively’ be something Leo degrees (in particular) end up teaching us about?

Jupiter Direct (glyph chart)

April 8, 2015 - 16:58 (4:58 pm) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Jupiter Direct (text chart)

April 8, 2015 - 16 58 (4 58 pm) UT +0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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That would be because Leo is the zodiac’s fixed fire sign, which means any (and every) Leo degree describes something which describes somewhere in our personality or habit patterns where we may well tend to get stuck on some personal, internal idea (image, vision) of how things should be, how they should work, or what they should look-sound-act like when they’re ‘right’ ... which is where Leo positives - the individual ability to see, create, adapt, conquer and protect meets up with the Aquarian themes of  accepting/rejection, hiring/firing, rewarding/costing, empowering against halting ... as those terms apply particularly to Leo’s desire to come up with, create or learn how to use/utilize whatever will conquer the challenge.

If that seems vague to you, think of it in simplistic real world terms: if you’re a parent, your job is not just to have the Leo fun and privilege of raising your children (which just for the ‘fun’ of it includes sleepless nights and various forms of grief, sass and teenage sulkery) ... but also to teach them enough about being a person that they are then able to survive and thrive in an impersonal Aquarian world. Or maybe you’re an inventor. Is your invention truly successful just because you’ve (Leo) invented it? Or is it successful only once it gets out there doing what its designed to do for (Aquarius) various people, individually and/or collectively?

Leo fails and falls down when and where we do not take both halves of this ‘equation’ into account. As we see with every sign, Leo has a ‘darker’ or ‘weaker’ side to its sign, which in Leo’s case is an arrogance which tends to manifest as either requiring that everyone see things your way ... or which, in failing to see how everyone else thinks or in terms of what is needed fails to fit in with the greater (Aquarian) system of life, operations, organization(s), etcetera.

Plus there’s always a touch of ‘clutch.’ All four fixed  signs have particular ‘habits’ when it comes to trying to hold things in place (which tends to be thought/spoken of as ‘holding things together’) - that’s the fixed nature. And in Leo, a fiery sign which like all three fire signs deals in inspiring visions, the thing they try to ‘hold’ onto (or keep intact) is their idea: the vision.

Wherever Leo appears in your chart, that’s the area of life where you will tend to ‘see’ things in terms of their potential: what they could be. This is no judgment on whether such a vision is right or wrong or useful versus useful - this is just about where such issues will tend to appear in your life (and unless the house cusp with Leo on it is 0 Leo, some of those Leo degrees fall in the prior house, a point many of us tend to forget!). To this we then add the degree of the station - 12 Leo - which, in being a degree between 10 and 19 (i.e., a degree in Leo’s second decanate) adds a note of fervency to the mix.

Or maybe you’d just prefer insistent. That could work too, as Leo’s ‘fixed’ quality combined with its power of ‘inner vision’ will tend to create moments where one side of the conversation is saying ‘this is the way - I KNOW this is the right way!’ while the other side of the conversation is saying things akin to ‘prove it,’ ‘did you fall off of some turnip truck?’ and that statement that irritates so thoroughly in Leo situations, ‘you must be dreaming!’ (which is probably particularly irritating because it would seem to be accusing Leo energy of being Leo energy!).

And with this station occurring with Jupiter sextile the lunar North Node/trine its South Node while being (separately) in trine to an Aries conglomeration of Mercury, Uranus and Psyche there are going to be opinions and positions being expressed ... and worth expressing. After all, just because people don’t understand a (Leo-driven) vision/idea doesn’t mean it’s bad, wrong or otherwise unworkable.

However ... let’s be real: there’s a LOT of energy which is going to go into speaking one’s (Mercury-Psyche) mind simply for the (Uranus-Mercury) sake of speaking one’s mind. Jupiter is also on station for each and everyone, so while for some the ‘let’s look at what’s possible’ means something good, to others it’s going to mean something bad.

And let’s not forget - we’re talking about Jupiter here. So that would be very, very good - or possibly evil, awful and doomsday-ish.

Jupiter magnifies. And in this instance, it’s representing the energies in our life which are doing that magnifying or expanding of our reach, understanding, our capacity, our necessity - and even our need to know or learn better. Sometimes our Jupiter moments make us feel empowered ... and sometimes they come about through our feeling helpless or over-matched against something ‘so big’ or ‘so powerful’ or against which (or in the light of which) we are caused, made or inspired to pit ourselves - learning more about that Self in the process.

Sometimes we learn how powerful we are, and what we are truly capable of doing. And yet ... if Jupiter is known for any ill, it’s known for the sorry mess we create by overdoing, over-speaking, going overboard (literally or figuratively!) ... or otherwise feeling so driven to expand, make some move or jump to some conclusion, assumption or answer that we go right past the sensible and necessary, setting off such  avalanches of activity, input and reaction that we end up learning the boundaries we trampled in our Jupiter-themed haste to get out there and make things happen (for right or wrong) our way.

And let us not forget: this Jupiter station is occurring only a couple of days after a lunar eclipse (see previous post) ...which is another indication of our being all ‘stirred up’ with much about what is really changing in our lives, as represented by the 29 Pisces solar eclipse which occurred on March 20th.

Few of us are owning our real issues in public at the moment. But at this time, and as we move forward, we are going to be becoming more and more aware of what is (or has been) affected by matters and things which are affected by issues which mirror our eclipse. (You know, the eclipse which has exposed something about our Self to that Self which we don’t want to look at, never mind discuss with others?)

-link to post-

Solar Eclipse Scheat:

Flight against Insight 

Yet life being life, it isn’t like we should expect that those ‘hidden’ things (which may be perfectly visible to others even though WE don’t want to see any part of it!) ... we should expect them - or at least aspects of that which they affect - to come up through whatever we do as we move ahead now.

That would be part of how Jupiter works ... not to mention rather typical of any planetary station. Some of the effects, of course, are dictated by how closely Jupiter’s 12 Leo ‘turnabout’ aspects your chart ...

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... and of course there are differences in how each type of aspect functions. Sextiles, for instance, are often referred to as ‘options’ or ‘opportunities’ simply because these are things which come up in life which we may see and choose to walk by without another thought. They don’t necessarily represent good or bad, just the fact that there will be an opinion, and how we will that time make some choice even if that choice is to simply say ‘no’ and walk on by.

Against that, conjunctions tend to be so immediate that we don’t even have time or enough ‘space’ (mental or otherwise) to think through or get perspective on things. And sometimes we don’t want to! 

After all, why spoil the wonderful day or good time with all sorts of carefully dried and dusted analysis?

More to the point, conjunctions represent times when something is what we’re ‘about’ at the moment - as opposed to squares, which in testing our sense of proportion often cause us to wish we could be anywhere but where we are in the moment of our given struggle. Where conjunctions ask us who we are, who we are being and what we are doing (or going to do/not do, be or not be) while asking us to keep our heads on and not overstep our Self (or sensible boundaries), squares challenge us to keep things in balance, generally calling for a focus on methods and nuances of balance which are inconvenient and sometimes uncertainty-provoking at their best.

The general ‘rule’ with squares is that we will tend to favor one thing or one approach, and it’s that very favoring of one thing (the being imbalanced in our approach) which ends up defeating us - which differs from oppositions.

How so? Well, in spite of the common cries of square-haters (there are a lot of them), squares do have some benefits, one being how squares give us ‘wiggle room’ (and often a chance to ‘re-balance’ and save our day (because that's how we learn to master 'squared' dynamics), oppositions ‘confront’ us with things which (generally) are impossible to escape without at least admitting their existence - which is often just what we've been doing which prompts the opposition and/or confrontation (however you want to think about it).

Trines, on the other hand, are a bit more like conjunctions ... and oppositions ... in how they tend to feel ‘inevitable,’ though the trine - an energetic about things 'in process most often refers to coming into (or to) a situation with something already under way. And that ‘ongoing status quo’ tends not to change with a trine ... although since Jupiter is 'taking a turn,' so may what comes (or becomes) of said process under way.


And that’s something worth thinking about when we’re talking about Jupiter stations. For the past few months (since early December, when Jupiter went retrograde) growth - growth of the good as well as growth of the problematic - has been greatly internal or internalized. In other words, on the metaphysical level, whatever happened during this time will have affected us internally, and either in the Leo 'parts' of our life or through Leo sorts of means - all of which would have begun back at the December 2014 Jupiter station.

You know, when it went into retrograde.

- link to post-

Jupiter stations at a Gemini Full Moon

  
And now, as Jupiter goes direct, most of our reasons for doing what we do will come from external sources. We’ll listen more ... and (yes,) we’ll talk more, even if that means we’re talking about the strikingly obvious need to listen - which sounds funny, but isn’t all that unlikely, particularly around the time of Jupiter’s station as Jupiter is going through its station while in sextile to the North Node - sounding the horn about some sextile ‘opportunity’ which we (North Node in Libra) should do or consider with regards to others or in terms of others, but which we’re not likely to be all that enthusiastic about. As with all nodal indications, the ‘should’ (North Node) asks us to bite the bullet and do all those uncomfortable things like not ‘going along to get along’ (as the old expression goes).

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A North Node in Libra asks us to do the unpopular but correct thing - which being that this North Node is being affected by ongoing (trine) energy of a mental and singularly Self-revealing kind represents a time when we recognize our abilities - or confront our Self - through an expanding list of ideas which may be different and valuable, different merely for the sake of being different, or reactionary for any of a number of informational reasons. What this is likely to mean in real time and your everyday life depends on where Jupiter is in your chart natally ... and where it’s station falls.

But wherever it falls, that’s where you will learn something about yourself during these days. The issue is not what others think, and its not about making our Self ‘feel better’ about who we are or aren’t. Rather it’s about understanding our potential and where we tend not to understand or believe in that Self.

And why ... or maybe more to the point, why we are ‘stuck’ in whatever less-than-wonderful patterns or habits we’re stuck in. 

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In keeping with Jupiter’s Leo station, its highly likely that we’ve taken some want and made it into a need.

And then we add in the idea of that ‘easiest thing to do’ (or the preferred thing to do) - that South Node in Aries - is in a grand trine with Saturn/Moon in Sagittarius and Juno in Leo. On one hand that points to some who may have abstracted needs, turning them into the celebration of some abstract idea instead of dealing with something which in reality is really broken, delaying all chances to fix anything until the defensiveness behind the desire (emotional need) to abstract - a desire which centers not in others or the world but in what we are or aren’t  willing to learn about our Self gets resolved.

If it gets resolved, that is.

Of course there are those who will come into this Jupiter station with some sort of accomplishment or grand opportunity in the works. Their challenges going forward are really no different than the person who comes into this time feeling like things are totally awry.

But they will probably have learned one very important lesson - that being about the kind of Self-discipline which is really about what kind of Self we choose to be.

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Currently transiting Leo, Juno will catch up to and conjunct Jupiter during the period of May 14-18, and at that time it is entirely likely that there will be a shifting or recalibrating of personal dynamics and approaches in light of all which happens now.

As for the rest of life, with Jupiter going direct we are embarking on just over nine months of exploration, education and growth as Jupiter won’t be going back into retrograde mode until January 2016. Some of what we end up doing during that time will be a natural process of building on what we’ve already accomplished or worked out how to do - and some of it will be our capitalizing on what we learned about our Self while Jupiter was in retrograde. In returning to the degree it went retrograde in last December as of July 6th, Jupiter will complete its 2014-2015 cycle and metaphysically move us all into a new period of growth - but until July, we’re all still working on projects, efforts and (whether we know it or not) lessons about who we are and aren’t, who we should be - and never even think about being.

One more note here: as discussed Jupiter stations are astrologically famous for things we love to think are good, but which in reality are not just an ‘overstep’ but detrimental to our truest aims, goals and truths. Because of the eclipses (which is to say, the proximity of Jupiter’s station to those eclipses) even as a lot of good gets done, a lot of problems may well be being incited precisely because we’re feeling sort of ‘golden,' and we're taking more risks at the moment - some of which go over some line which ordinarily we would be sober-of-perspective enough to recognize the danger(s) of.

Part of what goes wrong now has to do with everyone (that’s the BIG everyone!) is emotionally sensitized at the moment - not just because of the lunar eclipse, but because of something far bigger and far more ugly: our desire not to be (or get) caught up in the inevitable disgorging of ills ... in this case, self-denied if long-harbored ills ... which are now being raised as part of the recent eclipse, and which are going to continue oozing out like some particularly distasteful infection.

Our feelings got us into whatever is wrong here. And it's to remember: we don’t WANT to know the part of all these ills which aren't holding on to or quite possibly in favor of - even though we are - that being one of the most essential parts of our Jovian, learning life.

Jupiter - among other things - is the primary or "in door" ruler of Pisces. In that role, Jupiter opens the door for us to learn, but not about 'things.' No, in Pisces Jupiter represents our emotional lessons - and those lessons we need to learn ... truly for our own good ... about who we are in spite of the fact we have been hoping we were something different.

And yes, usually something or someone better. Wherever we see a connection between Jupiter and Pisces playing out on the metaphysical field, we have to conclude that life is attempting to teach us about the difference between who we would like to think we are - and who we're really being. Where we think we know more about life or our Self than we actually do, Jupiter represents that tendency we will have at such Jupiter/Pisces times (as we're going through now, seeing as we've just had a 29 Pisces solar eclipse) to become involved in - usually quite knowingly - something where we go in thinking we're just fine and where we come out knowing we've been living in our own little emotional pond, either without sufficient information to inform our Self about who we are (or are acting like) - or without having taken into account who others are and how they feel.

And yet ... as bad as such moments may feel, the truth is they're also part of our Jupiter education, an education which will always end up teaching us not just those things we want to learn, but how we need to learn many things we don't especially like as only by seeing errors can we ever hope to correct them ... and how that breadth of understanding - the understanding of light and dark as two edges of a single sword - is an indispensable part of all intrinsic ... and human ... life processes.
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Mercury in Aries, Mars in Taurus

super-volcano Tierazon fractal

(image credit: Soler97 - public domain)

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Mercury and Mars are changing signs on the same day - March 31st. Any time we see a planet changing signs we pay attention, as those are the kinds of astrological notices which will be reflected in real time changes of attitude and emphasis.

And those changes of attitude and emphasis often result in shifts of perspective - and thus the choices which result from those perspectives, depending on which planet moves in what kind of sign.

That being the norm when only one planet changes signs, we would expect that two planets changing signs would increase variables, options and complications - especially as there’s no guarantee those planetary or sign essences get along!

In this case, there’s some good news on that score as both Mars and Mercury are personal planets. So at least we know that Mercury entering Aries at 1:45 a.m. (UT/+0) virtually in tandem with Mars entering Taurus at 16:28 (4:28 in the afternoon, UT/+0) is all about us - each one of us - and what we’re (Mercury) thinking, saying and (Mars) doing... or not thinking, saying and doing - astrological symbols can as easily manifest as symbolic spigots which are turned off as on, after all.

That Aries is ruled by Mars is also worth noting - this quality of Mercury being in Mars’ most personal ‘home sign’ speaks to a lot of (Mercury) mental (Mars) energy being stirred up, motivated,  invested in and applied towards things which either are very personal ... or which pertain to something which affects others/us very blatantly or personally.

The Mercury side of this pairing speaks to a clarity and decisiveness of mind, manner and speech. Mercury in Aries has a reputation for courage - and sometimes even a little testiness, whether called for or not. That Mercury arrives in Aries by passing over 29 Pisces - the degree of the March 20th eclipse-- also says there are qualities of ‘having been burned’ ... or something being in ashes ... or having lost something, whether that means your interest in something (or someone), your keys, your phone - or even something which for you, has functioned as a support, validation or personal comfort, this last being a sideways reference to Mars in Taurus.

As a sign, Taurus refers to our security and ability to feel comfortable with what we’re doing, who we’re being, with how life works and in a very real and almost overriding sense, whether we’re feeling comfortable with our day-to-day existence. Associated with the 2nd house of the chart, Taurus-the-sign generally applies to our likes and dislikes, our generosity (or lack thereof) and the sort of want or desire which (eventually) leads to Gemini investigations and plans on how to get what we want - which makes sense when we think of Aries, Taurus and Gemini as primary and basic signs about the necessities of life and our life-long process of learning more about how to apply our (Taurus) abilities as we (Gemini) figure out how to (Aries) get from where we are to where we want to go - either literally or figuratively - so we can (Aries) be seen as the person we want to be seen as and (Taurus) feel intrinsically comfortable about who we are, that being what ultimately allows us to own, assemble and act on our own (Gemini) thoughts and/or ideas.

How we go about any of this is of course obnoxiously personal - no two people are going to go about doing things exactly the same way, and despite the all-too common expectation that others should act like our clones, its not ‘their’ problem when our estimation of who they are (or aren’t) doesn’t pan out.

That’s about us.

And lest we forget, Mars has been transiting is home sign of Aries since mid-late February. Why is this important? Because Mars in Aries, besides having a habit of manifesting as an impulse to focus on what we’re doing also tends to do two other things. One: Mars in Aries tends to manifest as reasons why we need to focus on what we’re doing ... and two: for those who have a habit of going overboard here and there in life, the period denoted by Mars in Aries tends to be a time when we either do that ‘going overboard’ thing (which we then will have to deal with under Mars in Taurus - with there being a tendency to try and stonewall one’s way through) ... or Mars in Aries becomes a time when we find out that we have gone overboard in the past, which now leaves us to cope with consequences and repercussions ... most of all the internal ones ... during the time that Mars transits the sign of Taurus.

Sounds jolly, doesn’t it?

Compared with the Sun, everything seems small - particularly Mercury!

(photo credit NASA)

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Actually, there is nothing which says we can’t all have a perfectly nice time moving forward ... except for glitches of human nature, that is. There’s a lot of energy centered in first quadrant signs at the moment - so we are each and every one of us going to be taking things personally for a while yet, and in all likelihood, whatever is occupying our ‘top level’ mentality is going to have a distinct tinge of ‘how is this going to work for me?’ being included in the mix in light of other things we also deem important.

This issue of priorities and the associated need to juggle things so that priorities and deadlines can be met is seldom simple under this sort of combination, and since Mercury in Aries/Mars in Taurus can get us so entangled in our own thoughts and frustrations we may break out in a rash of surliness from time to time, though Mercury isn’t going to be in Aries all that long. Mercury will only be in Aries until April 14th, outlining the idea of a brief couple of weeks of up-and-down intensity decorated with bubbling events, a few gasps of delight - and the occasional eruption of irritation.

Even ire.

Where things don’t go well, some measure of not feeling ‘good enough’ or that we’ve done enough is likely to figure as Mars in Taurus represents the kind of motivation which gets us to do something new because we’re unhappy (or even disgusted) with things as they stand. That can of course, be serious. Then again, it could just be a matter of having something sink in - such as how that unkempt garden really isn’t going to neaten itself up, meaning if you want a nicer garden, you’re going to have to deal with your mess in a proactive manner.

This quality of inertia which gets pitted against motivation in various ways is to be expected with Mars in Taurus: Mars represents the drive to get things done and here is paired up with Taurus, a sign whose fixed modality is famous for not liking to be hurried.

Taurus always seeks to know the benefits and possible down sides before committing to, or initiating an act or action. And when we add the Mars ‘push’ to that, irritation of the ‘don’t push me!’ type is easily provoked. Mars in Taurus is often very good at getting things done very correctly: this is a combination which when not headed in the self-indulgent direction can manifest as a considerable power of observation and a focus on matters which is both nuanced and insightful, often focusing on what motivations really are.

Which makes sense, as Mars in Taurus tests our ability to risk anything, be it our feelings, our money, our time, our loyalty or anything else, testing it more or less specifically through our ability to operate in (or through) any milieu while remaining aware of our various personal need(s) or interests as an individual.

So if Mars in Taurus tests our ability to remain balanced, aware and positive on an internal basis (and as that may apply to what we do on an external basis)... what do we think Mercury in Aries is going to add?

Mercury being about thought, communication and that which ‘communicates’ anything (a thought, a piece of mail or a person) from one place to another ... in Aries, all that becomes very dynamic because Aries is very much a sign about being who we are and getting those things done which we need done in order to accomplish our personal aims.

Make that OUR aims.

Yes, Aries can be a little ‘it’s all about me’ oriented, which when added to Mars in Taurus could spell a couple of weeks of Mercury-in-Aries boisterousness, fervency, enthusiasm, immaturity, wanting to be heard - and of course, a bowlful of Mercury in Aries opinions - before Mercury moves on into Taurus as of April 14th (UT/+0).

Then again, Mercury in Aries plus Mars in Taurus can equal the sort of putting-your-head-down-and-plowing-through determination which leaves talking to others, preferring to say less and do more.

So much depends on who we are ... and if we have any real idea about who we are - and how that may vary from who we’re being during this time. For those who have taken on the facing of their own psyche and how they wall things (or people, or the fact others have feelings) out, though things may not yet be perfect or perfectly wonderful, there is the beginning of a sense that things can - and will be better provided we work for, and towards such ends.

And for those who haven’t learned anything - or who have spend the period of the eclipse swaddled in what they want to feel about people and things and the direction of life...? Well for them, the Aries Mercury/Taurus Mars period is likely to be a time in which they try things, but not much works all that well because there is a lack of true ‘connecting’ with the world and values of others.

Either way, Mercury will conjunct the position of fixed star Alpheratz (with Uranus sitting right there) on April 7th, a combination which is scattered, messy and a bit clumsy at one end of its spectrum and expressive of sudden changes which can be effected quite ‘gracefully’ or through a great deal of disruption with the difference between exactly those we see in the eclipse. In other words, are we owning our part in some greater picture, or are we merely projecting and pointing fingers out of some instinctive need to NOT consider our part in whatever ill, problem or challenge?

Mind you, whatever you are dealing with may or may not be perfect. It may even be part of the greater emotional pressures we would expect as a result of the eclipse because so many of us don’t want to face our own emotional issues (biases, gaps, manipulations, projections, etc.) About now, how we react becomes more real to us - we ‘see’ or ‘feel’ ourselves doing something, and that something may be just what we swore we weren’t doing.

Or maybe we’ll catch ourselves doing that thing we were all up in arms about someone else doing so recently.

It’s that kind of moment. Mercury in Aries not only gets us to expressing our thoughts (and feelings) but is a signal that we will be thinking about our Self - and not just what we need or want, but also about who we’re being and what we’re doing.

Why do we insist on not understanding our own feelings? Are we so insecure with who we have chosen to be - and if so, what does that say about us?

Depending on where you are (i.e., your time zone), Venus also will be moving from Taurus into Gemini on April 11th or 12th. And as Venus makes that move, Mars will be crossing over (and re-activating) the degree of last year’s 8 Taurus eclipse - the one which conjuncted fixed stars Hamal and Schedir.

- link to post - 

The 8 Taurus Solar Eclipse

(Part 2: Sun in Taurus/Eta Aquarids)

-link to post-

The 8 Taurus Solar Eclipse

(Part 3: Stars and Patterns)

That eclipse occurred on April 29, 2014. And during that time, Mars was in retrograde in Libra - which tells us that as Mars conjuncts these still-sensitive points, matters which refer to last year or which have grown out of situations which began or took a turn during last April or May will now be being called back into focus, raising a lot of lingering - or new - feelings and thoughts. Where last year we may have been in one ‘place’ about relationships and learning about relationships (speaking to Mars having been in a Libra retrograde) at that time, now we see our Self either more clearly or from a perspective which is sufficiently different as to give us new reasons to reassess.

Maybe nothing is over. Maybe everything is just beginning. But maybe it’s not. Maybe something which seemed entirely valid then (under Mars retrograde) no longer seems valid - or even possible now.

A few days after that (on the 14th), Mercury will move on into Taurus - and Mars will still be in Taurus, setting us up for a period of days (April 18th through the 27th) where Mercury and Mars are within orb of conjunction - with the exactitude of conjunction occurring on the 23rd/24th, depending on what time zone you live in.

Why mention this?

Looking southwest from the Mars Pathfinder landing site, two hills known

as the Twin Peaks are seen in the distance.

(photo credit NASA, JPL, September 1999)

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Answer: because Mercury plus Mars in Taurus, in an emotionally evocative degree of Taurus is the kind of energy we would expect would want - or require (need) an outlet.

But why we would so want an outlet ...? That’s the Taurus question. And the answer there is simple: we do not want to be wrong. About what, is individual. But if you listen to what goes on during these days, whether that’s listening to the voices in your head or listening to your family or listening to the world at large as it goes about its business ... what you’re likely to hear are two very different ‘voices.’

The first is all about itself and its own perspective - exclusively. The other is all about a global or holistic perspective and how the ‘whole’ empowers individuality.

Once May dawns, Mercury will be in Gemini and working through its approach to another retrograde station as Mars finishes up its transit of Taurus. There will be more discussion and a smattering of new ideas with a lot of push-and-pull about the wisdom of everything (and anything) as Mars passes over fixed stars Capulus (at 24 Taurus) and Algol (at 26 Taurus) between May 3rd and 7th (the dates being a bit variable depending on what time zone you live in). Algol in particular carries a ‘purposeful negative’ tendency which can be indicative of the ‘pain’ we go through in doing something difficult or accomplishing something important to us. And because this star tends to represent a certain level of emotional preoccupation (within our Self) it wouldn’t be all that surprising if something went awry either because of a simple disagreement or the sort of lack of precision in communicating things which so often happens when we’re preoccupied and “not in the mood” to stop and have a long discussion.

But that’s the long run. The next few weeks ahead are all about the Mercury in Aries us and all which (Mars in Taurus) matters to us. Why it matters and whether that works well with the rest of our current existence is what we will look to first - hopefully remembering as we do so that after today comes a tomorrow which also matters.

And not just to us ... or in the terms which we define.
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Venus in Taurus

Strusta Lake (Braslau Lakes) in Belarus

(photo credit Zedlik, March 2011)

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As 10:16 in the morning (UT/+0 time) rolls through on March 17th, you may feel yourself relax. Or maybe you’ll start feeling more comfortable about something in some subtle if vital way - not that you would even notice in the moment.

But an hour or two down the line - yes. You’ll look up, you’ll think back and you’ll know: Venus has certainly entered Taurus.

Venus in Taurus is Venus in one of its two signs of rulership. And where in Libra (the other Venus-ruled sign) Venus focuses its grace/lack of grace through relationships and how or whether we relate to someone (or are willing to relate to their ideas or even their presence), Taurus is more about personal pleasure.

Which makes sense: Libra is a third-quadrant interactive sign - it’s about learning how to relate to the world (and others in that world) where Taurus is a first quadrant sign all about experiencing and learning about one’s Self.

And that quality - the ‘learning about me’ part of all things Taurus, that’s both the Venus in Taurus triumph and its ultimate drawback. Venus in Taurus motivates us to do what we need to do in order to ‘feed’ our needs, whatever they may be, which is how Venus in Taurus comes to be associated with food and food chains, restaurants, chefs and food supplies.

Yet when we talk about anything so basic, there is a chance that such needs will not, or at times cannot be met. That’s one of the big Taurean (and 2nd house) negatives. Because we all instinctively know it’s possible for needs to not be met, that understanding fosters a basic sort of insecurity none of us escape.

And then of course, there’s greed. Theoretically a sort of ‘astrological inversion’ of the Taurus principle, greed is Taurus unchecked by responsibility and morality - those two notions being basic qualities associated with the zodiac’s other two earth signs, Virgo (morality of process) and Capricorn (the responsibility to uphold-adhere to world-national-cultural standards). In other words, greed is Taurus need converted to ‘me-only’ desirous form (in keeping with Taurus’ opposition sign, Scorpio) and taken to the ‘I want what I want, and nobody else matters’ level.

This is something to keep in mind (astrology students, take note): every sign has a negative side, and when any sign embodies its worst, they will do so by displaying qualities which have been ‘pulled in’ from the worst qualities the polarity sign tends to display.

The Moon above palm trees ... with Venus just below

and Jupiter to the right.

(photo credit: Downtowngal)

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Yet all is hardly negative here. Venus in Taurus can be generous, magnanimous and caring even under duress as this is a combination which has a native understanding of value, and of the value of having values. And even if Venus in Taurus isn’t any guarantee that others will like what we like or want to join us in any given endeavor, under Venus in Taurus people who otherwise might be reluctant to discuss or negotiate may see the sense (or advantage) in doing so.

Part of this we attribute (astrologically) to the idea that fixed star Mirach is positioned at 0 Taurus. So anything entering Taurus is going to first enter Mirach’s aura (its orb of influence) and upon entering Taurus become ‘immersed’ (for however long) in Mirach’s ‘can do’ atmosphere so noted for its ability to promote and evidence possibilities.

Then again, let’s be real and realistic: Venus is entering Taurus only three days prior to a solar eclipse which is not only likely to ‘blow something out of the water’ in keeping with Saturn’s station ...

- link to post -

Saturn Retrograde - Phaethon Direct

... but is also likely to prove that things are changing and that in response to that, values are going to change, like as not because needs will change and drive those changes in value. That Mercury conjuncts Neptune on the day Venus enters Taurus also suggests something either coming to be not as important as it had been (or seemed to be) or something ‘new’ turning something else into a ‘has been’ or something we don’t believe is “it” any more.

Or maybe it’s just a realization in our heart that we either don’t have to settle ... or (because of the solar eclipse) that something we thought we could do or could have is not going to happen - not at least in the way we thought it would.

And that leads us into a whole other side of Venus in Taurus, that being the level at which Venus in Taurus speaks to the kind of inner security which allows us to function from a position of security. Most people think of this as being about money, as money certainly allows people to feel like they have options. But because there are instances in life where money can’t buy you what you need - which against the idea that real security ... inner security ... exists come what may and is useful in all circumstances without exception, that’s one very good reason to know that the ‘security’ Taurus speaks of isn’t really about money. As second sign of the zodiac, Taurus is the yin (responsive) mode to the Aries ‘coming to be’ or realizing that we exist.

In other words, it’s about self-confidence, self-worth and everything about our Self that we develop or think well enough about to develop so that we can be ‘someone’ in this world, whether your definition of ‘someone’ is a person who has worldly importance or simply someone who knows who they are and in that, is content to pursue their personal interests, wherever that may take them.

Because of this ... and in light of the fact that this Venus in Taurus ingress is occurring just a few days in advance of the 29 Pisces solar eclipse, a lot of people (and situations)are going through changes centering on what they value and where certain values (theirs or those of others) may need reassessment. And since solar eclipses tend to ‘explode’ our myths (particularly those we tell ourselves about our Self) for those whose charts are in orb of eclipse aspect the whole of this Venus March 17th - April 11th transit of Taurus seems fertile ground both for discoveries and opportunities to discard or ‘clear out’ things which have compromised our ability to make good on our talents and abilities, whatever they may be.

In fact, on the date of the eclipse (March 20th) Venus will be passing through 4 Taurus, putting it in an inconjunct to the position (4 Sagittarius) Saturn just went stationary/retrograde at this past weekend.

Not that Saturn’s moved yet. Now in retrograde, Saturn will continue to occupy 4 Sagittarius until the 17th of April (UT/+0) - which is not but a few days beyond when Venus will exit Taurus.

That, among other things, tells us that whatever we are doing, the overhanging sense of need to stick with whatever we need to do (despite not being thrilled with where it seems to be going) is going to be with us yet for a while - and how whether that need is truly a need or not is up to us to figure out.

But then, that’s a common Venus in Taurus question. Just because we like something, does that make it the right thing to do or to invest our time, energy and talents in? No - which is why under Venus in Taurus, even without a solar eclipse in the works, we tend to re/direct ourselves towards paths which have a future, which hold promise and which can help us become the kind of person we would be satisfied with knowing ourselves to be.

Venus in Taurus is a guiding light of sorts. Yet the path it illuminates is seldom a worldly one. We think it's worldly because we associate Venus with opportunities to do more and feel better about ourselves (and how we're living our life). But that's about our using or embodying our Venus to positive effect, because Venus functions as an energetic hinge - that quality which tips the scales in favor of whatever it is we're wanting, whether it's good for us or not.

The effect ... the applause or love or that torrent of admiration? That isn’t Venus. We are our Venus - but only when we aren't focused on our essential Venusian qualities. In that, Venus is a bit like the famous pot of water which won't boil if you stand there watching it.

To work, Venus requires virtually no effort - which is one of the reasons why Venus (plus) Saturn is considered a stable and fruitful pair. Where Saturn requires long-term effort and all sorts of focused attention to process the rules and standards which generate Saturn's process of 'earning rewards,' Venusian gains are more about who we are, and how we go about being that person.

Which means ... in the end, Venus is all about our quality of being.

So be you. May Venus in Taurus grant you that greater comfort with yourself to be You more effectively ... more willingly ... more genuinely.

BE well.
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You Were Searching ... (the Saturn-Neptune Edition)

(left) Saturn (Kronos) by Ivan Akimov (1802, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow)

(right) Neptune by Angelo Bronzino

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This post is in response to someone searching for the term ‘Saturn conjunct Neptune’ - which is not just a subject well deserving of a search (whoever typed this one gets applause) ... it’s something I’ve done a lot of research on firstly because of that most human and obvious of reasons (Neptune and Saturn are very prominent in my chart) and secondly, because as I’ve said before, time and cycles of time have always fascinated me - and Saturn/Neptune is a known synodic cycle, said cycle being the time it takes for a pair of objects (in this case, Saturn and Neptune) to conjunct and then conjunct yet again.

Synodic cycles are interesting: they seem to mark chapters in human development, whether that pertains to us as an individual, or society in its own right. And since over the years I have looked into this particular planetary twosome, this is going to thus become the post I put all of that into - which is one of the other purposes for this blog: to record information for freely searchable future reference ... and in this case it’s my hope I get it all written down.

After all, if I don’t, there may have to be a Saturn conjunct Neptune II: Return to Impossible Possibilities.

Also: considering the many nuances to go through here, this is the only search term for today. (See what happens when you hit something I’ve studied in particular?)

And if by chance you’re thinking ‘this isn’t about me or MY chart,’ think again. Sure, you may not have Saturn conjunct Neptune natally. And you may indeed have a Saturn positioned somewhere which Neptune’s current 164-year orbit isn’t going to get to during your life span.

But you DO have a Neptune in your natal chart ... and Saturn only takes 29.46 years to toddle once around the Sun, during which time, transiting Saturn will conjunct your natal Neptune. For instance, if you were born between the years 1970 and 1984, give or take a couple of weeks at either end of this period when Neptune was either coming out of Scorpio or going into Capricorn, your Neptune is in Sagittarius. And since Saturn arrived in Sagittarius as of December 2014, at some point between December 2014 and December 2017 when Saturn moves its ringed self into Capricorn your Neptune is going to get conjuncted.

So I’m just sayin’ ... you might want to read.

Besides, 2026 will eventually get here.

That date aside for the moment (I’ll get back to it), most astrologers (or astrologists, as some prefer) would agree that to put Saturn and Neptune into the same astrological breath, sentence or conjunction is very much akin to be connecting that which is tangible with something which is intangible in real time ... which if you think about it is just a tad hard. Saturn defines everything which ... well, everything which can be defined. It represents realities and facts as things we can depend on and structure our life around (Saturn) or on.

So this conjunction is connecting the highly definite with that which is Neptune and thus quintessentially nebulous...? Yes, it is. We’re talking about conjuncting Saturn with that which not only can never be defined but which always ends up revealing some vulnerability in US when we go to rely on it ... at which point we suddenly discover what we thought was so real is actually an illusion.

OUR illusion.

That would be very Saturn-Neptune, a quotient in which the Neptunian side of the thing can never be proven - it can only be trusted or relied on in faith.

Sometimes the Saturn in this pairing represents the strength with which we deal with some Neptunian weakness or vulnerability. Sometimes Neptune represents the softening of Saturn's exacting edge, allowing for a bit of humanity all around. With Neptune around, all can be wonderful if you don’t have to depend on it, which is why Things Neptunian include the lovely dream, the inspirational moment and that universal if ill-defined moment when on the brink of slipping into slumber all is released without prejudice, care or conscious effort.

Neptune's rings (photo credit: NASA-JPL)

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And yes, Neptune can be the very essence of the haunted personality which manifests in any number of maladaptive and generally repetitive cycles even when someone knows full well that things are just fine.

If a human could be said to be spooked by their own shadow, that shadow would be their astrological Neptune. Neptunian things exist and often flourish so long as you trust them ... and Saturn represents that state of being which exists in reality. Granting that from sign to sign and house to house any set of symbols manifest differently, people with a natal Saturn-Neptune conjunction may excel in one area of their life and yet have substantial issues in another such as in the case of someone who is able to survive a lot of rough-and-tumble in their career with barely a break in stride but who at the same time is hugely sensitive. Or maybe they’d be sensitive to their own insecurities, but still perfectly capable of being hugely insensitive to insecurities in others. Seeing that on some level Saturn always refers to our ‘career’ in life, Saturn-Neptune can also indicate a Saturn career in any typically Neptunian field such as the arts, pharmaceuticals, the oil industry, charity work - or any of the helping professions which help those unable to help themselves in some regard.

Because this conjunction is going to get transited (over and over again) in any natal chart, which planet numerically comes first will also have some bearing on how the person experiences life: Saturn is all about clarity - sometimes even to the point of chilling clarity, and Neptune is a shifting, ever-present and ever-changing fog. With Saturn first and Neptune numerically second, barriers, facts and limits (the Saturn part of life) will tend to get ‘fuzzier’ or melted away as the planet which transits Saturn moves on to Neptune. So maybe everything is tough until you try it and then (much to your relief) things turn out not to be as bad as you thought they would be. Or maybe you’re someone who is diligent and uber-determined until something bursts your Neptune bubble, dream or illusion. Can you reassemble yourself? And if Neptune is transited first, will you learn to trust the process and to try as hard as you can on faith - a quality Saturn generally honors unless we’re trying to do something which is utterly Neptunian and unrealistic to begin with?

Saturn-Neptune by conjunction asks whether reality, whether or not we conceive of that as our reality or not, is worth trusting. This isn't easy; the natal square between these two symbols is known for all sorts of 'coping mechanisms' which either mimic or are out-and-out personal addictions. The conjunction isn't known for such manifestations, but the fact that the square is tells us that this intersecting of the "Is Factor" and "Maybe, if..." quotients are something natives either (Saturn) work to learn to harness responsibly (taking their 'medicine' along the way) or which they (Neptune) accept should be offered on faith but never insisted on, as insistence is a manifestation of ego (i.e., 'my way is the right way') and therefore contrary to core Neptunian values, which in conjunction to Saturn would indicate a 'dissolving' of what gets built, despite best intentions.

So this conjunction usefully asks whether we are willing to ‘see’ clearly and see beyond today. And yesterday, too - which could sometimes be even harder what with all Neptune's inbuilt-wistfulness (read: insecurity in and about time) and Saturn’s time-bound preference for the timely, the real, the proven, the status quo and certainly that which is blatantly proven by history.

Yes, even if given Neptune's presence Saturn's version of history could be include a little 'fuzzy calculus' and preferential editing in the mix.

This conjunction occurs every 37 years or so - over this past century there was one Saturn-Neptune conjunction in early Leo back in 1917, a second Saturn-Neptune conjunction in 1952-1953 in Libra, and a third Saturn-Neptune meeting in 1989 (into the earliest part of 1990) in Capricorn.

Furthermore, each one of these conjunctions came with its own special quirk. The Leo conjunction was in trine to dwarf planet Eris (discord), which on one hand marks this as a time when these planets by transit would indicate WWI ... and on the other (as a natal indicator) would speak to those who ‘came out of this period’ able to see challenges as motivation, as negatives - or as opportunities, any part of which could be used to benefit All (and therefore the Self as part of that All) ... or no one but the Self as part of a search for achievement and personal success.

-link to post-

Eris Discordant: Mastering

Our Own Weakest Moments

Those with a Libra Saturn/Neptune conjunction have been faced with a substantially different dynamic. Currently in their early 60s, these people haven’t faced the internal yea-or-nay of the Saturn/Neptune-conjunct-in-Leo group, but then their general Saturn mission didn’t include the (Saturn) long-term Leo lesson in development of Self. Instead, this Libra Saturn/Neptune group has been getting a life doctorate on the subject of how to get along (and not get along) with others ... (nicely folded into) .... how to get them to get along (or not get along) with you. This conjunction in Libra differs from the Leo version also in that Saturn in Leo is Saturn in a sign (of detriment) where Saturn tends to act pushy (even arrogant), where Saturn in Libra aims for the noble and good thing and has to hone the Self along the way to getting there.

The problem is simple - and quite understandable, actually. Ultimately Saturn asks what we are willing to make of our Self and its promise is that others (and life, and the world) will reward us for what we’ve earned. So since Leo is all about developing that Self, that leaves us to applaud ourselves - which is not only not much fun, but which when done with a bit of Leo drama sounds a bit odd.

And yes, sometimes a touch arrogant - sometimes when all that a Saturn/Neptune in Leo person is doing is having a bit of personal fun.

(And yes, therein lies the problem, on occasion.)

Saturn in Libra is entirely different. Libra being the sign all about our relationship to others (and this world) and how the world (and others) react to us depending on who we really (Saturn) are and who we have (Saturn) worked to become ... Saturn in Libra becomes the hallmark and essence of what you put out comes back to you - which underlies why Saturn in Libra is a positive if the native is honest with themselves about who they are and what they are doing with the understanding that they are only going to get back what they put out there.

'Shadow of Demarcation' - In this photograph, Saturn's upper hemisphere is tinted

in green and blue and its lower hemisphere appears in

more creamy, warm-hued tones

(photo credit NASA JPL)

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And then we factor in Neptune, which in Libra - a sign ruled by Venus - emphases the ‘hands off’ side of relationship, namely that which is platonic in the highest humanistic sense of the term. With Saturn, such a Neptune can indicate a negative blindness or a positive willingness to (Saturn) work interactively on (Neptune) faith - of some sort.

The tendency with Libra involved is to think that we need to have faith in them ... where the reality is that we need to have faith in our ability to be our Self in spite of whoever ‘they’ are - or in spite of whatever happens.

We don’t want to think that.

It’s true anyway.

As for what interesting modifier this conjunction is connected to, that would be Ixion.

Yes, Ixion the Plutino.

 

- link to post-

Ixion: Our Conflict of Self

The thing about saying Ixion is a Plutino (for those who don’t want to go read the whole Ixion saga at the moment) is that while yes, the term ‘Plutinos’ is a reference to Pluto, what it means in terms of our current conversation is how like dwarf planet Pluto, Ixion’s orbit around the Sun is controlled and modified by Planet Neptune’s magnetic resonance.

So it’s back to Neptune.

Also unlike the Eris-to-Neptune/Saturn connection: that was a trine. Ixion to Saturn/Neptune is by conjunction, and that’s a whole other animal. Trines are about things already in motion where conjunctions refer to embodiment or being so directly confronted with something as to be either ‘saddled’ with it, unable to see it for what it truly is (good or bad), or so much in sync with/part of it that it is easy to (Neptune) assume that (Saturn) you’re the only party (Saturn) responsible for anything. Or maybe even everything ... (Neptune) imagine that.

This ‘Neptunian loop’ (or ‘echo,’ if you prefer) may  seem to make it harder to recognize some (Saturn)  realities as the realities they are - a situation which can simultaneously lead to insecurity on the inside and difficulties on the outside even while the ‘double helping’ of Neptune may well lend an ability to endure a lot even while you’re (as they say...) crying on the inside, knowing there’s nothing to do but surrender to the reality of whatever is going to (Saturn) be/become the (Saturn) reality you’re going to be (Neptune) inspired by next.

Probably more than either the other two conjunctions during the 1900-1999 period, this Ixion - Saturn - Neptune conglomeration is probably ripe to be affected more by house placement as well. The strong houses for Saturn will be the 7th, 10th and 11th, meaning effort is easy to summon up and/or maintain as required. The difficult houses for Saturn will be those in opposition to the above - namely the 1st, the 4th and/or the 5th, reflecting a Saturn placement which will tend to test the boundaries of any personal (1st house) agreement, long (4th house) term responsibilities and sort of as we discussed with regards to Leo (Leo being the natural sign of the 5th house) issues with frustration and often enough, rates of gratification.

But strength isn’t always a good thing. If we equate strength to loudness, there is a point at which your ears hurt, after all. So where Saturn may trend towards ‘overdoing’ either through action, insistence or restriction when positioned in the 10th or 11th (its  houses of natural rulership, challenging us to set limits as a measure of discipline on the Self), Neptune in the 12th represents a tendency to be very hard on one’s self with regards to ‘measuring up’ if  simultaneously unrealistic when it comes to the distinct probability that the dreams being held so dear would not be so wonderful in reality ... or that they are merely ill-conceived or unfeasible, all of which is a variation on the Neptune in 12 tendency to place faith in ideals to a greater degree than others in such a way to risk (and incite) greater disappointments and a greater sense of overall vulnerability which in Leo would be about the Self, in Libra would be about the validity of the relationship (whether it’s based on anything real) and/or whether others can be trusted.

And all that is without Saturn even being part of the picture.

As for the 1989 Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Capricorn, that one occurred in conjunction with Facies, a nebula long referred to in astrology as a ‘fixed star’ simply because astrological names come from a time long before telescopes could differentiate between a distant single star and the sort of distant star cluster known to us as a nebula.

Whatever name used, Facies has a reputation for presenting ‘complications’ and complicated scenarios, which in a sign about achievement and worldly standing (Capricorn) speaks to challenges neither easily dismissed nor easily worked through.

Two of Saturn's moons, Rhea in the foreground and tiny Epimetheus in the background

orbit with Saturn in the background and Saturn's rings all around.

(photo credit: Cassini Spacecraft - ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA)

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With Neptune in Capricorn evoking everything from powerful illusions to illusions of power amidst a general questioning of what ‘world standing’ means ... with all this cast against Saturn in Capricorn’s strictly structural (and structurally strict) standards for achievement, most of the ‘fallback’ positions became all about holding into (or reverting to) some a status quo, sometimes even when said status quo was plainly outmoded. And all of which has ... and is likely to continue playing out in the lives of those born during this time as experiences which are as introspective (Saturn-Neptune) as speculative (Neptune-Saturn) ... with plenty of questioning between.

And then, about the time these people reached twenty-two (which for the record would be just after their first Chiron square), along came 2011 ... and Pluto’s conjunction of Facies - which would also be Pluto conjuncting the Saturn/Moon in the chart of any person or other entity (businesses, products, nations, organizations, etc.) ‘born’ during this time.

- link to post -

Pluto Station/Retrograde in the Face of Facies

If you’re one of these people (or you own or are part of some company or whatnot founded during this 1989 time) you’ve probably noticed how messy these past couple of years have been. The worst of it would have been in 2011 through January 2013, but Pluto has only exited the orb of conjunction to this Saturn-Neptune conjunction as of November 2014.

And now Scheat is going to get eclipsed - which means anyone with this conjunction is going to have their Saturn-Neptune eclipsed, a three-year process which is bound to strip away many built-up walls (physical, emotional and otherwise) as we all learn that though life may not be what we want it to be, it still can be good. Productive. Worth being part of.

We just have to get past our Self ... and ourselves.

In conjuncting Facies, Pluto would also be conjuncting the Saturn/Neptune conjunction in these charts at a time when the young adults living those lives were just realizing some things (Chiron) can’t be learned in advance: you have to live through them and work with them in order to learn from them - or about them.

Some members of this natively Pluto-in-Scorpio generation will have reacted well enough. Others will have reacted by running scared (fear being the negative side of Saturn’s energetic) and still others will have felt discouraged or confounded by something unexpected altering their plans. Whichever group they belong to, much of their positions on things and overall priorities will begin to change as we move through 2017 into 2018 - the period during which this group will arrive at their first Saturn return and become (as we all do) more real, realistic and practical about life as a whole.

As for the next Saturn-Neptune conjunction, Saturn will begin catching up to Neptune (i.e., it will enter the five-degree orb of conjunction) during April of 2025  with Saturn and Neptune perfecting their conjunction (initiating another 37 year Saturn-Neptune synodic cycle) on February 20, 2026 - which I told you I would get back to (and now I have). Since this conjunction occurs in Aries, this will have Saturn in the sign opposite that (Libra) in which Saturn is exalted and where Saturn’s ability to ‘require’ standards manifests as a need for integrity of thought, in one’s words and with regards to agreements, lest all one does come (in time, time being Saturn’s byline) to nothing.

Or at least nothing you intended it to be.

Furthermore, in occurring at 0 Aries this conjunction is accompanied by not one, but two fixed stars: orange star Deneb Katos (Beta Ceti) in constellation Cetus and famously fixed red star Scheat - which in being at 29 Pisces is in line to be hit by this March’s 29 Pisces Solar Eclipse with exacting exactitude.

Said to bring a harshness and qualities of restraint and limitation, the first of these stars (Deneb Katos) isn’t written about much. But its constellation (Cetus) though popularly depicted today as a whale, originated with the idea of a classic ‘sea monster.’ And yet, this is the first star in the zodiac lists (by degree order). So is this star about the process of ‘being born,’ or ‘giving birth’ to something in one’s life, making the ‘whale’ more of a ‘whale of a job’ and the ‘sea monster’ the oceanic depths of Pisces just ‘behind’ and our instinctive desire to avoid and (if possible) deny our own vulnerabilities?

As for Scheat, Scheat is a star which in most general terms is about being denied or denying something ... generally to, or about others. And for good or ill, that fits certain modes of both Saturn and Neptune. Neptune effects are often said to ‘veil’ us - or the truth, depending on how willing we are to face our own feelings (and where they come from), particularly with regards to lingering feelings of vulnerability, that being what often sets Scheat dynamics off, whether in us or on the part of those we are interacting with - which is a good part of Scheat’s Piscean, critical degree presence.

When Scheat is triggered, nobody responds as you think they will - or as you think they should, or as you would hope they would because right is right and facts are facts and all that. That doesn’t mean things will work out badly, but it does virtually ensure that we will feel badly. And since Pisces as a sign is all about getting us to feel, and in particular about getting us to explore our most human and problematic human, mortal feelings, that’s about reality.

And reality is symbolized by Saturn.

Also to consider with any such conjunction: the state of the planet ruling the sign. Obviously the Sun (ruler of Leo) never goes retrograde, but Venus (ruler of Leo) does, Saturn (ruler of Capricorn and co-ruler of Aquarius) does and so does that spicy little ruling planet associated with Aries named Mars.

If the planetary ruler of this conjunction is retrograde in the nativity, in the return chart for that planet (anywhere along the lifeline) or a solar return chart, this conjunction will be turned inward ... or at least need to function/be functional 'internally' before anything which is going to (Neptune) satisfy the native is going to be (Saturn) done. Matters which pertain to this conjunction will also tend to be somewhat delayed or require/be in the process of getting a restructuring, some 'reconceiving' or some 'reinventing' during periods when that planetary ruler of the conjunction goes retrograde. 

Also ... as touched on earlier, transits to Saturn conjunct Neptune depend in part on which planet numerically comes first, as that’s the planet which is going to be transited first, sort of ‘setting the scene’ for that which follows. conjunction can be problematic. Currently in Sagittarius, Saturn itself will be entering Capricorn in late 2017 - just as Saturn comes into orb to sextile Neptune, representing an opportunity.

Will we take advantage of that opportunity when it comes along? Or will we not realize that the reality we’re resisting is meant to be our own?

That’s an answer well worth searching out - which in this case would mean searching within.

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To the Person who searched for "Saturn conjunct Neptune,"

Are you still glad you asked?

Seriously, I hope this is of some help to you ... and others. It's not the world's easiest configuration, but some very accomplished people have this conjunction in their chart (which among other things proves that we can get past the Saturn-Neptune habit of creating some 'reality' in our mind which turns out to be OUR reality ... but not that of anyone else!).

But some people with this conjunction do find ways to use it well. In fact, it may be that very separation - that of success (which is a Saturn quotient) from satisfaction (which is far more Neptunian) which lies at the heart of many of the challenges you (assuming this is your configuration) will experience. So if you can keep those two things separate as you utilize the strength and grace of this configuration while doing each to your level best within the astrological boundaries provided (no running afoul, please), there is much to be (Saturn) learned and gained - which whether you (Neptunian) know it or not will (Saturn) earn a satisfaction few who do not spend a lifetime wrestling with the finer points of (Neptune) infinite (Saturn) finality will ever know. 

All the Best,

Boots

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