Venus in Capricorn

Named for the Egyptian goddess of truth and justice (Maat), Maat Mons on Planet Venus is an

8 km (5 mi.) high volcano situated at 0.9 degrees north  Latitude by 194.5 degrees east Longitude.

(photo credit: NASA-JPL)

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There’s something quiet... sometimes even somber about Venus in Capricorn. Some of that is no doubt due to the fact that the sign prior to Capricorn is Sagittarius, and under Venus in Sagittarius things can get wild and woolly, unpredictable and unexpected. That’s what Sagittarius is all about - the new, the growth, the testing of a theoretical limit (if not the limit itself). So while Venus passed through Sagittarius, results of various doings (results being the Venus thematic aim) while there were pluses and things to be happy about, there were also a lot of surprises and things which got out of hand in unexpected ways.

So part of the change we’re likely to feel once Venus is in Capricorn is just about comparison. After all, in comparison to Sagittarius, Capricorn can seem downright staid. Or slow, as the pace or frequency of things does seem to pick up under Sagittarius - which means that if they slow down now they may be simply be going back to what's generally our more 'normal' pace - but in comparison, there's a difference.

That means we shouldn't think things can’t - or won’t get done now. They can - Venus in Capricorn is often a very  productive time, especially where we need to deal with obligations to others... or even our Self. Venus being all about trying to produce the result/results which will make things easier, as it passes through earth sign Capricorn we're all going to be looking for, working with and seeing real results come to be in real-time, in-the-flesh life.

Will they be what we want?

Well, maybe yes... and maybe no (what else is new, right?). But seriously...ruled by Saturnine precepts (those being about hard work, having/taking direction, regard for others/the world around us and in general, The Responsibility Principle) Capricorn is a sign which is about what we earn as a person (or for a nation or company, as an entity). It's about the 'reality' of our 'standing' in life - never mind the money or the bank account(s), though this is a pairing of sign and symbol considered good for the conducting of business, if not specifically or directly as an indication of income.

Think of it this way... getting the job, the 'business of business' - the Capricorn part of the process - has to happen before you get a paycheck, which makes the receiving of income as something intrinsically Aquarian far more understandable: Capricorn precedes Aquarius just as getting the job precedes getting the income from that job. 

Under Capricorn, it's our reputation (being known for who we are and what our abilities and capacities are) or what we are thought of by others (and the world) which garners whatever 'response' we get in said world, whether that amounts to respect, money, accolades - a job offer - or anything else. And that means Venus traveling through Capricorn is all about who we want to be in this world versus who we are being or being seen as in this world (inclusive of who we may have been)...and how well all of that is working, or not working, in good, bad or iffy Venusian style.

And for those who have issues? This is also a good time to think about or work on seeing what you can do to improve things. It may take time (hardly anything we initiate under Venus in Capricorn yields instantaneous results) ... but if we started doing something some time ago, this may well be a time of stabilization.

There is a touch of 'let's keep the status quo status' with Venus in Capricorn (more than a touch, actually...) yet risks - though not seized upon with the glee one might see if Venus was in a fire sign - are still acceptable.

Well, maybe. Venus in Capricorn signals moments and situations which ask us how important something really is. We end up thinking about risks to what we have, and we'll tend to 'protect' or look at providing for things as they are first under this influence where at other times (read: while Venus is in a sign with less allegiance to less hard-core practicality) we might think the situation merits taking a risk in order to protect or provide for our 'status quo' as we go forward. And when we think of Capricorn in its 'what we are seen as' mode it's easy to see Capricorn as a sign of (or about) consequences in life... and life consequences, which in the sense that 'consequence' and 'result' are words which might be thought of as non-kissing cousins means Capricorn's 'style' meshes rather seamlessly with Venus as whatever situation, action or connection brings about some 'response' or 'result.'

Though granted, those results aren't always what we want them to be. Sometimes we get what we want under Venus in Capricorn, even though we always get what we've managed to earn - at least on a karmic level.

And why karma? How did karma get into this conversation? Answer: that very special 'karma' quality brought to this discussion courtesy of Scorpio, as Capricorn is - and ever shall be - the third derivative sign from Scorpio..

Scorpio, Sagittarius and Capricorn show in terms of their position on

a 'natural' (i.e., unmodified) zodiac wheel.

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All third astrological derivatives equal the 'voicing' - the 'putting it out there' at least in theoretical form, which makes Capricorn - and transits of planets through Capricorn - times and indicators of situations which though totally Capricorn in nature embody something of a Scorpio 'voice,' that 'voice' being the heart of the challenge we all face as we achieve (the Capricorn thing) and through that achievement acquire power - or a powerful voice. Or the power to speak - and be heard.

This precept - by the by - has great implications for the next 2,000 years or so as Scorpio will be on the 10th house (the native house of Capricorn) for the whole of the Aquarian Age... and also why we are seeing - and likely to see - this struggle to maintain internal (Scorpio/Taurus) balance/s of worth in worldly institutions and on the worldly level appearing first in or through natively 10th house institutions. We're going to see the other side of this too - the 10th house professions which 'embody' or hold power over our mortality, the most obvious of which would medicine, food and anything connected to weaponry, war and/or the civil sector entities which embody a governmental power (tax, spy, policing agencies, etc.).

The wheel of any given Age has the sign of that Age (in this case, Aquarius) on the Ascendant

of the wheel, rotating the rest of the signs counter-clockwise from there. Because of that, Scorpio

is on the 10th house of the Age we're now in/moving into, which explains to a great degree many of
the problems we're encountering in our life and which we see in our world. During the Age of Pisces
(that which is now over) the great emphasis on learning, religion and the idea that there's an ethical
responsibility which goes with being in power or having power was tempered by what we might
think of as a 'spiritual-moral' clause. That clause - the Sagittarian clause - now moves to the 11th house,
meaning it now resides (and will reside, moving forward) in the hands of 'marketplace systems'
and various mass and social  movements, meaning that governments and those 'in power' (whether
embodied as corporations or as a household) will tend to 'act' from the Scorpio basis (whether
or not they are claiming to be acting from a moral (Sagittarian) position) until a new paradigm
about the relationship between power and security based on the needs of populations as opposed
to Scorpionic desire/will of those 'in power' is developed. This may take time and does not say that
those who haven't made the change are "evil" - merely that things are changing and that such
people or institutions (or some of the means through which they operate) are destined to change
even while we all move forward, together manifesting that beginning of Aquarian Age evolution
which over time equates the (Taurus) security of power, use of power and those with (or in) power
with the opportunity to learn how to (Taurus) value, develop and wield power in one's own mortal
and individual life in and as the whole of any global and universal (Aquarian) system.

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Venus in any sign is about whatever makes something plain, evident or obvious. We even have expressions which cover such times: Venus in an air sign 'brings things to light' and Venus in an earth sign like Capricorn 'makes things concrete,' none of which guarantees we'll like something, not like something or that it's even the end of a given process. Sometimes realities please us and sometimes they just prove how what we thought we would want isn’t what we really want at all.

That's also rather Venus in Capricorn, just as in 'solidifying' certain situations under Venus in Capricorn means we've been 'validated,' approved or given some go-ahead which we will begin working on now and see about capitalizing on once Venus moves into Aquarius (read: after New Years). For now we're looking for opportunities - and among those we will find some which give us a chance to turn disappointment into understanding in such a way that we are then able to change things.

You know...once Uranus goes direct and the 'changes' in life become more external than internalized?

How life works, and who we are in our life gets a bit of quality attention during this time. And because perseverance is another Capricorn trait, while Venus moving through Capricorn that path which needs long(er) term effort and the best our determination and patience can offer may not seem as annoying as it did just a couple of weeks ago.

Or rather, it may seem just as irritating, but also the path we need to take because we really do want to reach that personal goal. So don't be surprised if what you focus on now is something bigger, more substantial or more 'consequential' (read: full of potential) than what you've tackled up until now: Venus in Capricorn often stirs us to demonstrate our abilities and capacity - most of all to our Self.

Yet in spite of this, we shouldn't expect everyone to be in a nose-to-grindstone 'give it your very best effort' sort of mood - which isn't surprising, as it's holiday season. But maybe that's the point. Nothing we've said here says the period between December 10th (when Venus enters Capricorn at 4:43 p.m., UT/+0 time) and January 3rd (when it moves on into Aquarius) can’t be warm, wonderful, rewarding and well worth savoring.

It’s just that with Venus in Capricorn, success is more human - think less razzle-dazzle and more time-tested, classic or dignified.There's also a reflective sort of quality to Venus in Capricorn which tends to lead to quiet admissions - even if they're only to ourselves. We're aware of losses... and where we stand with regards to those things we want to achieve in life, whether that's a professional or personal aim.

As for the reputation for fiscal caution which goes with this combination. Under Venus in Capricorn we would expect less experimentation and risk rather across the board than that we’ve experienced of late...or what we would have more comfortably tolerated under Venus in Sagittarius.Part of this goes back to the essential yin-yang quality of the zodiac - a quality which we see in every part of life: we breathe in, we breathe out... the pendulum swings in one direction, and then swings back. Starting with Aries (an assertive and yang sign) the entire zodiac goes back and forth between this yin and yang, metaphorically hot and cold pattern, which is why we experience Scorpio’s tendency to try to hold onto things (or keep them as they are) which is followed by Sagittarian fervency which is again followed by Capricorn’s classically cool control.

And please note: that reference to control under Capricorn (or in the 10th house sense) starts and ends with control of Self - not others. As much as it is a sign of achievement, Capricorn is also the sign of governance and governments, both of which in this metaphysical sense are said to work well only  when the Capricorn drive to ‘structure’ durable things which provide what is needed so everything else about our human lives can function successfully.

Given this - and the Venus reputation for producing results, this Venus in Capricorn time is likely to show up/bring out how well (or not well) our efforts to reach our current goals is really doing.

Or not doing.

Whichever way things go, there's going to be some emphasis on maintaining a status quo even while needing to look forward with an eye to the lessons of history.

(Welcome to your next little exercise in unlikely balancing acts.)

Imaged by Venus in Capricorn and Mars in Aquarius, these next few weeks are a time when things may (and can) be sparked... or they can just fizzle, or even short circuit. Since the astrological Mars and Venus are also thought of as primary symbols of lunar/feeling 'modification,' even without anything untoward or specific going on, staying in emotional balance within the Self and with others is one of those places which will take a bit of effort. This isn’t necessarily bad and there's nothing Herculean necessarily indicated. Some of us will take some time off, some of us will pull back a little in some way and all of us will be thinking 'what next?' about something, whether we're in our career planning mode or standing in the kitchen thinking about when to put cookies in to bake considering everything else we need to do.

With Mars having changed signs (into Aquarius) a few days before Venus enters Capricorn, Venus (the faster moving planet) will do a bit of numerical degree catching-up for the first few days of its transit. Then as of December 14th, the real heart of the semi-sextile effect resulting from Mars and Venus being in adjacent signs increases. And though this semi-sextile won't last more than a couple of days (suggesting that only a small tube of mental anti-itch ointment might suffice), because those days are the specific dates which lead into the Uranus’ station-direct/Capricorn Solstice moment of December 21st, changes and challenges are likely to interrupt, distract or disrupt our focus.

Moreover, the degrees at which Venus and Mars will proceed in numerical (not sign) tandem start at ten and continue on through fourteen, we know that emotional drives and those motivating forces which lie below the surface are causing some of this, with that 'hidden' or 'unspoken' factor creating a lack of clarity, whether or not there's true insecurity.

Venus conjunct Pluto in Capricorn (glyph chart)

December 20, 2014 - 11:02 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Venus conjunct Pluto in Capricorn (text chart)

December 20, 2014 - 11:02 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Some want to act, some are dying to react. We know something needs to be done...but we also don't want to act in haste. With Venus conjuncting Pluto there's no question but that we're each being driven by what we want to happen (which is natural) and let's not forget: any astrological contact between Pluto and Venus indicates some level of passion... or for those prone to same, obsession.

And that's what's being tested about now through a configuration we know of as Uranus squaring Pluto from 12 Aries with Uranus slowing down to take its station.

That's a lot of pressure. Internal pressure which is seeking a way to 'break through' whatever is holding it back.

This transiting Uranus-Pluto square has been with us now for a while, and its many manifestations have not been altogether pleasant. Uranus first came into orb of square to Pluto (this time around the zodiac) back in June of 2009 - a fact which may ring a bell for you and which certainly will set off chimes in the heads of those who watch domestic and international politics and economics. Since then life and our times have ... with increasingly shorter breaks ... been trying to get us to change, and where we don't change (or where we don't flex and/or change) change - sometimes drastically dramatic change - has been thrust upon us.

To put this in Aquarian Age terms we all have been being challenged to move out of some ‘past’ - most likely personal and global - into a more present-and-future mode, and we’ve probably all done some of it, but then again... probably not.

And that part we would know because Uranus is still transiting Pluto. The active square having begun in June 2012 (June the 24th, to be exact) it remains with us with the next edition of exactitude occurring on December 15th at 6:15 in the morning (UT/+0 time) with March 17, 2015 marking the last such event we will experience for a while, though it will be early 2017 before this influence fully dissipates.

So what is Uranus squaring Pluto - and why do we care amidst a conversation about Venus entering Capricorn?

There are a hundred different ways (at least!) to describe Uranus square Pluto. But since they all seem to fall within one rather indistinctly succinct outline, we’ll just go with that: Uranus squaring Pluto by transit is the need to change coming into balance with the willingness to be transformed.

In this textual word equation, Venus conjuncting Pluto represents the attracting of the result (that being the Venus factor) which will prove transformational. Occurring in Capricorn, we know the nature of this Venus/Pluto coloration is a reality - maybe one we want, maybe one we have and want to keep. We want to have things as we want them, we are fully vested in whatever it is we’re convinced of our focused on.

And yet... we’re changing. Things are changing. We know it - and yet we are unlikely (at the moment) to show it - that being part of the nature of 12 Capricorn, a degree which represents the ways we (at least some of us) get so very clever that we sometimes outsmart ourselves.

Firmness is called for here, lore tells us - but with Pluto in conjunction with Venus, though some will fight to the (literal or proverbial) death for change, just as many are likely to be tenaciously invested against some change they feel is being ‘thrust’ upon them in such a manner as to rankle their (Uranus-in-Aries) imperatives.

Read: survival...and surviving our mistakes.

Not necessarily physical, though. No, thought this could refer to physicality it could just as aptly pertain to anything any one of us is ‘being,’ doing, aiming to do...or even that which we are known for, whether in our career or personal life. And with the Sabian symbol for 12 Capricorn being ... ‘A fire worshiper meditates on the ultimate realities of existence’ ... we also know that this Pluto/Venus contact is generating something we could ‘get’ and learn a great deal from. To have this conjunction occurring in Capricorn speaks to the basic nature of that we will consider and confront - and with fixed star Vega in orb of this conjunction there is a definite aura of something which had held 'charm' which now doesn't seem so all-fire important.

So...will we change? In the long run, yes.  Are we willing to be a participant in our own transformation at this very moment? That depends. Some will see necessity and rebel where others will loathe the necessity but see pragmatic (Venusian) value in changing our mind, our position, our aim, our priorities - or anything else which needs to be changed.

People tend to attach huge importance to the transits of Venus because we think in terms of what we want to be true - or valuable to others because we like it so much. Venus is all about that sort of energy - but it's not the 'thing' which always counts as much as the connecting, however and whatever that effects.

Venus isn't about what we get, have or look like, it's about that part of us which motivates this or that, learning about our own "Venusian attractiveness" through how things work, through how others react - and in the end, by how happy with our own estimation of who we are we end up being.

While in Capricorn, that experience comes through life, through our comfort and satisfaction with our world - personal or global.

Or our lack of same, of course.

And yet...sometimes we're happy enough with that. 
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Venus in Sagittarius / Neptune Direct

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

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

Neptune - the credit for which goes to NASA and JPL

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

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

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

 Aries Wheel - Location Not Specific

  Aries Wheel - Location Not Specific

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

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

Chart cast for Brisbane, Australia - Placidus houses

 

Chart cast for Brisbane, Australia - Placidus houses

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And maybe grow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(And wouldn’t we all like that?)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Or at least begun.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

heading in different directions while eternally connected by a golden

cord rendered in stained glass. (photographer unknown.)

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

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

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

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

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

A Leonid meteor streaks across the sky

(photo credit: Tushar N Dadarwala, January 2012)

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

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

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

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

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

And our possible lack of values.

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

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

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

And that may...or may not be who we are in our current reality.
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November 7-16: Kallisto, Mercury, Damocles, Nessus and the Leonid Meteor Shower

The Leonid meteor shower as photographed from space

(photo credit: NASA, JPL, February 2005)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How do we feel about that?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You know - during those Neptunian times.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's right above his head.

And it’s hanging by a hair.

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

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

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

And unsuspected.

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

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

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

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

(photo credit: Ecelan, 2009)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That, and why that is...that’s probably what we’re about to go through learning - again.
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