Venus: the Station

I know...ow. Just ow.

Yes - I know. Been there...doing it. Ow.

This is the start of the next three months. What we learn now - and going forward, echoes.

I have no answers for you at the moment except this is a moment to endure and learn from. As I write, the Sun is at 11 Aquarius (ON A VAST STAIRCASE STAND PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT TYPES, GRADUATED UPWARD) which seems to be the image of all we are going through at the moment which is giving us greater clarity - for good or ill - about where we stand with ourselves wherever we have gotten to in life.

Within a couple of hours the Sun will move into 12 Aquarius, the Sabian symbol for which is A BAROMETER...which is keynoted as 'the ability to discover basic natural facts that allow us to plan in advance for action.'

We're at a checkpoint - a point at which we look at the barometer and 'read' our pressures personal and external, considering as we do how it would seem a painful truth that human beings never let go of comfort or that desire to humor themselves or some cherished vanity until sheer need overcomes unwillingness.

That effect and concept will now deepen and move towards coloring central considerations as the weekend turns into next week, as Sedna goes on station, and as our capacity for greater perspective (or the lack of same) becomes that which governs critical choices leading to this year's external challenges and those realizations which amount to internalized success.

Other than that, this Venus retrograde almost became my death knell. Yes, it was an accident, but the whole affair made it very plain to me that what we don't know can indeed kill us - and that there are both prices to be paid for such ignorance...and clarity about what's worth anything which just maybe can't be learned any other way.

In any case, I hope these weeks were reasonably kind to you and yours. Going forward, what kind of human we want to be...as opposed to why we know we've been that person we are now...that's grist for our mill going forward.

And I wish us the very best with that.

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EDIT/UPDATE: From the emails I'm getting, I need to say a bit more - most of which falls under the general title "SCRAWLS FROM DETOX."

Come to think of it, it's worth saying. What happened is this: after I was told to 'go forth and detox' by all the Los Angeles MDs, I looked the drug up to see if there were any known 'side effects' which came with detox.

On that rather benign looking list was 'loss of appetite' and 'anorexia' - the latter of which my brain filed under "not in this life."

Seriously...once I got out of the house and had access to food I was fine about eating. Until I began detox, that is.

Let's just say I lost my appetite, which at first was fine. But then...well...I didn't get hungry, so...

Moral: what you don't know can kill you. There was a very sobering moment when a woman out begging looked at me and said 'are you going to make it?'

It was about then that I realized something was wrong.

Like I say...what you don't know can kill you. Food being a Venusian thing, this whole episode strikes me as strangely karmic as it strikes me as wholly Venus retrograde.

When I say that any retrograde can force you to get in touch with that 'quality' (like food, like nutrition) on the inside, that's how a retrograde works.

(No, some retrogrades aren't all that friendly.)

I'm okay. Venus is going station-direct at the top of my chart so I'll go with the idea that I'm simply owning this experience in public. Maybe by my doing that, you or someone you love will never go through anything like this.

And that would be good. :)
 

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Thanks for your emails and expressions of care. I really appreciate them. Grazi.

- Boots


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Venus Direct

Act in Blues

by Antoni Karwowski (January 2009)

Of all the posts I write, without question those marking the end of a Venus retrograde or Mars retrograde are my favorites – if merely for the relief I know they will spell for so many.

So here’s the news we’ve all been waiting for: Venus will go direct on January 31st at 8 p.m. (UT/+0) at 13 degrees of Capricorn.

In going direct conjunct Pluto and in a semi-sextile to an Aquarius Sun everything isn’t perfect or probably even sorted out at the moment. Many of us are still uneasy or undecided about what has happened during the past six weeks. That the degree Venus is going direct in (13 Capricorn) points to where we stand at the moment in our own life as well as where we thought we were going has created a curious sense of separation…isolation…even alienation as we’ve tried to let go of certain things while preserving that which seems vitally important.

And not all those choices have been easy. Or “fair.” Venus in retrograde, so known for its ability to manifest as situational relationship dynamics which disappoint, fall short of expectations or which elicit feelings of compromise, rejection or lack of proper reward for our efforts. Focused through the Capricorn lens, this particular retrograde has been sobering. Apparently ‘aimed’ at our hard core, real life, ‘what it takes to exist’ sorts of Capricorn standards as applied to wherever we need to grow, get more realistic or consider the effort(s) being made – or which need to be made, this Venus retrograde has been uncomfortable for all and costly on a very personal and human scale.

Through others, through our experiences we have been forced to at least consider something about who we are and how we’re going about living our lives. And now that Venus is going direct, all those many things which haven’t been so straight-forward or obvious are facing us – at least as an undercurrent - going forward.

To toss in a little metaphysical history here, that Venus is going direct at 13 Capricorn – a degree which calls on the toughness it takes to make it on your own while making us wish things were ‘nicer’ all the way around – this is a degree hit by a solar eclipse back in January of 2011. At that point something about our ‘direction’ (or the directives by which we live our life) was irrevocably altered, sending us into a three-year solar eclipse rebuilding cycle, the results of which only really began to surface during early-mid 2013.

As those effects did surface, something else was revealed…something we could not have anticipated and which we would not have considered or undertaken to take on had we not been through that January 2011 solar eclipse.

Or more specifically, the two months or so before that eclipse. In some ways we could say that this Venus retrograde has taken up where the eclipse left off, echoing through our lives asking us who we really are – and what or who we want to be thought of as.

The most sensitive points affected by the January 2011 solar eclipse AND this

current Venus retrograde (which takes its station to go direct at 13 Capricorn)

are the Capricorn conjunction, the Cancer opposition (the 'confrontation' with

issues and ideas) and the two squares - one in Aries and one in Libra. Seeing that

all four of these signs are members of the cardinal (pro-active) modality, what the

2011 eclipse may have stopped now will have resurfaced as a check point.

All of these points have a five-degree orb allowance, as shown above.

    

The gaps between those two ideas or values or qualities were shown up in large scale back in 2010/2011 …now we’re at a checkpoint, asking ourselves what we have and haven’t done since then, focusing in particular on the human side of this equation: our satisfaction with life, the integrity with which we think we’re living our lives (and in that, how we feel about integrity as a necessity or option) and what it means to ‘win’ in your terms and survive only to recognize the cost to others…maybe to other things you actually value…and to our self respect, our feelings of self worth and whatever it is which makes us want to do whatever it is we do in this world.

Mind you, this is only Step One in a much longer process. Yes, there will be those among us who will shake off Venus retrograde effects and trot away like some puppy which has forgiven itself its latest transgression. But most of us still have a lot of work to do, the underlying qualities of which are going to remain Venusian and linked to this December 2013-January 2014 retrograde period. Seeing as next up on the calendar is a Mercury retrograde beginning in Pisces and ending in Aquarius we can expect an unusual combination of effort, contemplation,  investigation and rejection during the weeks ahead – all with a dose of wondering what we should take on or be in competition about.

Are we competing with them, with ourselves – or with some ghost of failings past, real, ingrained or imagined?

Then we come to Mars and Saturn retrograde – a pairing of stations which for some may well prove to be monumental on their own and which play into what we’re talking about with Venus seeing as Mars, along with Venus is considered a ‘primal’ sort of descriptor of emotionality – the ‘strength’ side of the feeling energetic - as opposed to Venus which represents a softer and more ‘receptive’ side of our emotionality. And though the natural tendency is to think of these emblems as good-or-bad and even masculine-versus-feminine, that’s not the issue here. This ‘Mars and Venus as Moon partners’ (and the corresponding ‘Jupiter and Saturn as Sun partners’) is not about social attributes, but about whether we are able or even willing to harness our abilities without getting in out own way.

Or maybe more to the point here, what with Mars being in Libra, whether our Mars drive to get things done/assert one’s Self is in harmony with your own intent or desire. And make no mistake, sometimes life knows better than we do…and no, we don’t tend to like it when life takes that tact.

Part of what we are dealing with now – and which we will be dealing with on an increasing basis as we move forward (towards the Mars retrograde and Taurus solar eclipse) is a subtle if ongoing awareness. Mars in Libra is an air sign which functions through the ‘idea of the thing’ – which in the case of Libra is all about who we are in relationship to others, personally and/or professionally. (And yes, sometimes both.)

Meanwhile, Venus in Capricorn (or shall we say, Pluto-Venus in Capricorn) can perhaps be typified as a ‘drive born of necessity’ which operates in a very Big Picture fashion – the ‘big picture’ part being all about the fact that the last four signs of the zodiac (Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces) are worldly and public by nature.

Some will spend the whole of these next few months trying to ‘balance’ the individual/interactive concern against their bigger or worldly concerns. Others will instead move towards the idea of relating to others (or what they learn from others) as a ‘microcosm’ of that ‘world’ in the sense that society is really just a collection of countless individuals, all of whom have pretty basic instincts, tastes and opinions.

Considering the sign aspect here is a square (from Venus to Mars) the first variation will tend to cause friction within us (as to how to use our Mars assertiveness energies) and that’s likely to surface as problems, tough choices and for many, hard scenes. With squares – whether by sign or degree – we always want to work towards integration, towards synthesis. That takes work, hence the reputation squares have for being difficult.

But the reward is an inner understanding we’ll never lose…and since this is Mars-Venus we’re talking about, what stands to be gained here seems likely to be self respect or confidence.

The ‘medium’ through which Venus operates may be anything - emotional or financial, something to do with a career you have or want…it may pertain to some physical necessity. Or simple survival needs. You may be grappling with the nature of some responsibility you’ve taken on and whether that really fits who you are.

But whether this time is about something you need to get done in order to move forward towards and into the new…or  whether you’ve determined that you need to put distance between your today and yesterday, this is just the start of a process.

A turning point, call it.

Given the Mars in Libra inconjunct to this April’s Taurus solar eclipse we can anticipate there’s something to be learned from others or experienced through some association or situation which is going to affect us on a substantially personal level.

As for when we’ll encounter such a moment, catalyst or insight…that’s individual. However, considering the fact that Mercury is entering Pisces rather in sync with this Venus turnabout, some of us will be making changes now which we will capitalize on or find out the true wisdom of come this April. Mercury in Pisces can represent indecision and insecurity…but it can also signify intuition and a grace of spirit which is often highly seductive. And because this ingress will occur in tandem with Venus’ station, we can expect an intense few days when relationships and our ability to relate to someone through relationship (be it business or personal) can become a matter of personal fascination.

The caution here is obvious: lest you fall prey to some own desire to be seduced into (or out of) something, know your limits.

It’s also entirely possible that you may now meet or become involved with a project or person who will change your perspective on something fundamental. If so, enjoy the positive but pace yourself. Venus/Pluto connections are well known for stirring obsessive feelings which, given the Mercury in Pisces cue, may be nothing but a mirage.

As always, there is a two-days-before and two-days-after ‘station allowance’ given here, and the usual astro-theories will apply: things which occur during the two days before the station have yet to play out and things which happen during the two days after the station are a playing out of situations already met.

Pluto will be moving into 13 Capricorn as of February 26th…which would be late on the 25th for those in the Americas or eastern Pacific basin. It will then remain at 13 Capricorn and go retrograde on April 14th under Mars retrograde - during the heart of eclipse season.

This 13 Capricorn Pluto sequence will recommence just before New Years 2015 and finalize in January, teaching us all a lot about what ambition really means along the way. 

This last six weeks has been difficult for everyone. No doubt it's been particularly hard on Gen X’ers (born under Venus-ruled Pluto in Libra) and Gen Y folks – the Pluto in Scorpio tribe. (My sympathies, absolutely.) But across the board, no matter what generation you were born into, as many times as we've all been told we need to learn to love our Self, most of us aren’t that good at comforting ourselves with the sort of support we need when we feel like no one understands us and we don't understand life, when it seems like our dreams are crumbling for no known reason, when nothing seems to be going our way.

This feeling...the odd malaise so many of us have been laboring under for the past month or so...will begin to pass as January gives way to February. But it will be slow. Any planet coming out of retrograde takes a bit of time to pick up speed again, and thus our lives - or in this Venusian case our sense that things are more or less back to 'normal' will take a bit of time. Some of this is individual. But even if your personal chart doesn't answer to 13 Capricorn (Venus' station point), 23 Taurus (the degree Sedna will go direct at on February 5th) or 3 Pisces (the degree Mercury will go retrograde at on February 6th) it will be mid-February before Venus motion is more or less back to normal - at which point we'll be under Mercury retrograde, an influence which is easier on the heartache but more prone to producing headaches.

That Venus won't be exiting the shadow of this retrograde until March 4th tells us we're going to be working with and through much of which we've been challenged by for a while yet. But that's natural. Some decisions haven't yet been made (or acted on) and many situations need resolutions. Relationships and financial issues are likely to take the longest to sort out and a few such matters (probably those which embody or test our personal sense of vulnerability as it concerns how to proceed) - will become part of Mars retrograde quandaries. 

Still, as of January 31st we can expect communications to warm and many a process human or situational to finally achieve some sort of ease. The combination of Venus going direct as Mercury motion slows can create great clarity, great confusion and a whole list of questions and choices all at once. So yes, we do evidently still have a lot to learn yet.

But at least we've gotten this far.
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Sun in Aquarius

 Sunrise, February 17, 2009

(photo credit: Harald Hoyer)

Aquarius is a worldly, public, collective, ‘Big Picture’ sign. Its successes come from embodying something which everyone appreciates (or can relate to), at least on a mental or theoretical level. So in order to accomplish our goals and get what we want out of life over the next four weeks we need to own, understand and utilize our individual potential(s) in such a way as to focus our individuality.

If we focus what we’re doing and how we’re doing it correctly, others will react as we are hoping they will – which means that at some level mistakes and failure are particularly informative now, as generally errors under Aquarius tend to be (or become) rather obvious.

And yet, they don’t all get fixed – the reason for which is because Aquarius is a fixed sign, the first sign of which is to move slowly or deliberately. We may know there’s a ‘jump’ or change to be made, but…

Some of us just don’t want to change. Some of us haven’t put enough work in yet to know what to change or how to change it. Then there are those among us who won’t be able to take critique or responsibility now. Aquarius embraces both extremes, with precision, strict attention and focus (even over-focus) at one end and the irrational and irresponsible at the other.

With this ingress happening under a Venus retrograde which falls in the sign before Aquarius, some will feel very sensitive about their reputation or how others regard them at least until Venus goes direct on January 31st. Some will pull back. Others will cut back on efforts because they aren’t getting the response they want. Or because they think narrowing their focus will increase success – or even their chance of success.

Like all fixed signs, Aquarius symbolizes needs, desires and whatever processes lead to our ‘securing’ or receiving something important. Function and functionality is important – as is the ability to get things done in a timely manner.

Aquarius draws events out – or dismisses them in an instant. The thought may linger even if the person or opportunity doesn’t.

On the other hand, this is also a sign which teaches us to reach. And reach out.

Hebe Asleep (1869)

by Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse

Those of us who think life is simply going to deliver what we want on command tend to have a very hard time with Aquarius. With the first part of Sun in Aquarius under Venus retrograde (from ingress to January 31st) our ability to value ourselves in this world with or without demonstrated approval- support is in for some testing.

Then things will begin to change. Mercury’s moving from Aquarius into Pisces as Venus is on station (January 29 - February 2) signals rising emotions, changes of heart and emotional turnarounds. With this happening as the Sun moves into Aquarius’ second ten degrees (10-19 Aquarius) surprises and shocks – even unforeseen emotional outbursts and trying situations may be in the making.

What is being signaled here is fervency, not empathy, so don’t think soft, think strident. Think rebellion. Think ‘determination to win.’ On all levels and whether for good or ill, these first few days of February support that which is meant to connect the genesis of something and its outcome, with an emphasis on our willingness and ability to think (and for some, act) not only in our own regard – not only for our own pleasure or purpose.

Under Sun in Aquarius, we want things to work. Most of us will see some purpose which serves our good and the greater good as well – or that’s what we think. This is a global sign all about systems, whether we’re talking about a water system, a social networking system, our systems of international travel, commerce, communication or economics or simply our ‘system’ for running our life. During Sun in Aquarian we are more aware of others and who they are…and thus we’re likely to learn a few things about ourselves.

Both the differences and similarities count now. We are drawn to those we feel comfortable and ‘similar’ to, but we may stand to learn more from those who are different. Sharing experiences can be alienating. Then again, they can be educational – or even stunning as we learn that someone we thought very much like us is a stranger…and how someone or something we thought alien is not so odd at all.

That everything we think of as accomplishment or success (personal or professional) depends on our willingness and ability to interface our individual world with the greater world around us (on whatever scale) comes into play here as Aquarius is famous for everything from frivolous gatherings to job interviews. Anything which connects – whether that’s a connecting of people or machinery or money or anything else – all those things are Aquarian. But with Mercury going retrograde on the 6th, particularly after Mercury retrogrades back out of Pisces into Aquarius we can expect all sorts of interruptions, delays, misunderstandings and troublesome moments – especially when it comes to anything electronic or digital.

 
With the Sun at the apex of a fixed sign Sun-Hebe-Altair t-square coming into Aquarius our conflicts are composed of whatever it is which prevents us from being able to live, explore and profit from our abilities. The trick, however, is fairly simple here: you can’t just think about yourself. Whether the issue is what you’ll get from anything or what you’re willing to give, understanding where others are coming from is essential. Memory and memories can function against us if we don’t let others in…and yet we will have no peace if we try to go it alone.

The object here is ease of relationship – with ourselves as much as with others…and with others as much as ourselves. But with Amor in the description of the goal and Kalypso at 4 Taurus (a degree which tends to be anti-marriage and possibly overly masculine) this is definitely not about physical intimacy and probably not even about an ongoing intimate relationship.

But there is some sort of ability or rhythm being described. Often associated with artists, musicians or any sort of person or act which acts to ‘harmonize’ or ‘blend’ separate streams of input or possibility, Mirach conjunct Amor at 0 Taurus seeks to establish something new – something which will stand out.

You know, for it’s Aquarian uniqueness.

Our uniqueness, that is.
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Venus Retrograde Conjunct Pluto: January 18 - 31

Integrity

by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1876)

It's standard astrological theory how during the week before a retrograde begins (or ends) we all tend to feel a bit pressured. Maybe even frustrated. Or confused.

Then the object goes retrograde, marking a time of shifting perspectives, when whatever the attribute we associate with its energetics becomes the general ‘focus,’ prompting force or ‘framework’ for thinking things over.

Venus went retrograde on December 21 (2013) in the sign of Capricorn, sign of structure, leadership and commerce. Associated with everything ‘outside of who we (physically) are,’ Capricorn has a dualistic quality in that through all things Capricorn – our career, our social standing, our achievements, our reputation or whatever we are known ‘for’ or ‘as’ – through everything and anything external we get measured by others (or society).

Then as we reflect on that, we measure ourselves.

Under Venus retrograde (as a general concept) we’re likely to be not in an approving mood. Or maybe we’re not (as they say) “feeling the love” from others. Venus’ movements through the zodiac indicate the ‘directions’ from which we should expect to receive input and reward and right now the normal give and take between people (or in situations) feels forced. Or lacking. It’s like things aren’t working and we don’t know why.

Normally we would see Venus in Capricorn and think of the implied Venus/Saturn connection as a sign of stability, pragmatism and good business sense (corporate or the ‘business of life’). But with Venus in retrograde, finding a path through our lives has felt difficult and muddled. We have all tried to rely on who we are and the skills we understand ourselves having – and of late (since December 21st) – things haven’t been going that well. They’ve been sluggish. Or maybe people have been unresponsive.

Is it them? Is it who we are? Are we on the right track? Have we built the right life for ourselves so that we care not just about the ‘outer’ person and ‘outer’ life but the person we are ‘inside’ our personal world or individual life?

Businesses and efforts (personal or public) which have been or which are aimed at achieving some goal have been moving along slowly, if at all. A lot of us – and many a company or organization founded during the last ten days of December in any year – they’ve met up with setbacks and ‘support problems.’

Our Venusian feelings of being appreciated, fully responded to and properly reward is being exposed to a harder course – a ‘bigger world’ or tougher set of rules than we thought we’d have to face.

Or…is it that we’re just not capable? Personally and professionally, a lot of people have been asking themselves just that question.

And now Venus is moving towards its station-direct point at 13 Capricorn on January 31st – a date which we know (because Mercury is entering Pisces on the 31st) is going to cause us to feel something.

Something. What you feel is read through Mercury’s natal position (replete with aspects et al) plus where 0 Pisces is in your chart. (Check your solar chart as well.)

Plus 13 Capricorn of course – that being where Venus is going direct.

Normally the thing to do would be to think through was ‘Venusian results’ mean when we bring that ‘I cause the effect I receive’ Venus vibe to 13 Capricorn, a degree which is all about the ambition which when combined with standards of integrity presents us with tough choices and difficult situations which need negotiating. And learning from.

The durability and determination which we feel we have to use now we will also experience in others. The funny thing is though…in them the energetic looks like arrogance. It feels dismissive. And in our own lives this Venus at 13 Capricorn retrograde can feel like a rejection.

And the truth here is this: if we fail now it’s because we have refused to try or (given the Sun’s presence in individuality-oriented Aquarius) be present as our own ‘presentation’ of Self in this world. Plus the bottom line here is this: all of this is likely to be highly intense and productive…or destructive based not on who or what we face, but how we face it.

And that is about how well we deal with two other ideas: desire and reality – specifically, our emotional ability (or willingness) to deal with reality, or to deal with others in a manner which is realistic, given the situation.

The intensity of this period is likely to be very much ‘in our faces’ and/or virtually subliminal, depending on how we tend to deal with ‘the dream’ as a motivation and something totally apart from daily life. Both can exist, but only if we don’t try to…or even need to live in some sort of ‘dream.’

Some of our dreams are simple lacks of realism.

Some are reflections of that we are unable to deal with.

Knowing one from the other is vital now…and as we move forward into February (Mercury retrograde), March (Mars and Saturn retrograding on March 1st and 2nd) and the sluice of events which is likely to accompany the April 2014’s Libra-Taurus eclipse pair.

Venus going retrograde last December began a radical altering of our relationship(s) to others. This is what is now intensifying as Venus 'backs into' the Plutonic position. This is a transformative dynamic - and a highly intense one at that.

But will it evolve as something inside of us that we choose to do or be? Or will this be a time when external forces leave us no option but to change - or maybe just do something new?

As we pour over inner indecision, this is a time when we may be tempted - if for no other reason than to feel tempted...though by what is individual, and strangely enough, at this time the why we would be tempted becomes at least as strong as the temptation itself.

If Venus represents that which comes from us, which can be evoked by us or through us...and Venus is now functioning so that we can better understand ourselves and our lives and our potentials and what matters...that's the issue we are instinctively reacting to as something with deep and meaningful potential.

Is that a potential for good? It well may be, though with Venus-Pluto connections, best bets always consider the allure of the intense and those internal desires which, whether they're erotic or not, inspire cravings.

There is a power exuded during Venus-Pluto periods which feels pervasive. Mysteriously so. With Sun in Aquarius/Mars in Libra, much now has to do with our relationship to our world and thus this Venus-Pluto connector is likely to function as part of whatever we are going through right now which has to do with our ability to value ourselves...and whether we're doing that in such a way as to enhance our lives - or maybe just make things incredibly toxic.

Toxins - real or emotional, physical, financial or situational - are a large matter to deal with now. There is a need to protect or inure ourselves to effects even as we need to improve situations.

And still Venus is in retrograde. As this process evolves, as Venus edges ever closer to Pluto's zodiacal position impacts will increase. The evidence of what things 'cost' (or cost us) will become more manifest - most of all in our regard for ourselves, in the distance or dichotomy between what is and is going on and what we could be. Or could do. Or could become.

Or could perhaps learn, once and for all.

There are emotional outpourings yet to occur in April which will trace their origins back to now (mid-late January) and December – say, from the 21st until just prior to Christmas.

As for this next period ahead, January 18-31 is likely to be anything but dull. Even if you’re not doing anything out of the ordinary, something is brewing. It may feel like it is ‘about’ others but it isn’t – this time is about how we react to others based more or less on external interactions and ‘hidden factors’ which we are as fascinated by as wary of.

Why we are fascinated…and why are we so skeptical or perhaps even defensive? That’s the real question, and that’s all about us.

And if something affects us, we’ve been touched.

Eos (Dawn)

by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905)

How we deal with that is likely to be part of a greater step in our personal, hugely human evolution. It’s a theme we’re all living through and being subjected to – most of all by ourselves.

If we can bear in mind that things happen – good or bad – and people come into, and leave our lives for reasons which can be totally positive and entirely painful at the same time…then we stand to get a lot out of this time. That which feels most stable may in the end prove worthwhile (if less productive) than that which is undertaken with a willingness to take reasonable risks in the cause of overall growth.

Quality and quantity are not the issue here: we are. We can do all the worldly things the way the world says they should be done and end up hollow if we have not yet grown into the person we are inside.

Life will prompt us – as it is doing now – telling us to grow, to change, to liberate ourselves through connecting with whatever our strengths are, difficult or otherwise, within. To love ourselves as a generative force which can give is positive. To love ourselves as and for our own ends is to undermine our own ultimate goals. Some of the reasons why this last point will prove out over the next several months (probably about six months) are not evident from here and are hidden - in particular – whenever or wherever our passions are given too wide a berth or rein. Creative or not, well intended or not, the heat of any fire ignited now can be dangerously disappointing (at the very least) if not harnessed and utilized with a light if firm touch and a clarity of human – and humanistic – purpose.
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A Bridge So Mars

 The Si-o-se Pol bridge over Zayandeh River in

Esfahan, Iran (photo credit Shahab Maghami)

Though obviously nobody’s been through Black Hole and lived to tell about it (at least not that we know of!), astro-physics does tell us that the gravitational force of a Black Hole is so enormous as to affect time itself.

That matters to us in this instance as just inside Libra’s metaphysical doorway sits a Black Hole known as M87. 

Anything entering Libra almost immediately comes in contact with M87. In fact, there’s good reason to consider that the last few degrees of Virgo and Pisces along with the first few degrees of Aries are all very much affected by M87.

So what do Black Holes mean, on an astrological basis? Much as the astronomical phenomena describes something where the ‘normal’ rules of existence as we know it don’t apply, the shorthand for the astrological Black Hole is ‘altered perception’ and the ‘alternative reality.’ Anyone who has a point in early Libra (or early Aries…or late Virgo or Pisces) very likely has some aspect of their life – that associated with whatever symbol is posited there – which they see differently than most people do. Or maybe their experience of it is totally different than that we normally associate with whatever the subject is.

Q: What? You don’t like CHOCOLATE?

A: My Venus is at 1 Aries. People say I have odd tastes.

Chocolate by any other name...is still delicious.

I know some don't like it...all I can say is that

leaves more for the rest of us!

(photo credit Andre Karwath, February 2005)

 

The astrologer’s guess would be that the four “hard” aspects to M87 (the Libra conjunction, the Cancer and Capricorn squares and the Aries opposition) are where effects are most pronounced. And of these four, the conjunction is probably the most obvious.

Mars will enter Libra on Tuesday, July 3rd (at 12:33p.m., UT/+0). And that means that Mars will be within orb to conjunct M87 from June 27 (a date you may remember because that’s the day of Venus direct) …until around July 15th.

And July 15th just “happens” to be the date when Mercury goes retrograde (at 12 Leo).

What this describes is something akin to a “dotted line” between the Venusian ‘what we want to accomplish’ (personally or professionally) and either the highly creative, ‘I can make this happen’ Mercury in Leo vibe…OR Mercury in Leo as the ‘I know how this works, don’t bother me with facts!’ sort of thing.

And the connector is Mars at the very end of Virgo into Mars’ transit of early Virgo.

Because Mercury will end up retrograding back to 1 Leo, that means that Mercury enters the shadow of its upcoming retrograde on June 27th.

(Hmmm…there’s that date again!)

The point here is that Mercury’s being in the shadow of an upcoming retrograde means that whatever you’re doing, whatever is going on now – all that is IN process and is A process. There’s something in the works which Mercury in Leo describes as something you either want to do (or get done) or some ‘theory’ you identify with on pretty much an “I-Me-My Way’ sort of basis.

Leo is, among other things, the area of the zodiac all about things which test our ability to risk. Or things which come with no guarantee – like children. Like competition. Like investing in the stock market. You can have all the confidence in the world and Leo placements will sometimes not let you down but test your ability to focus on what needs to be done in order to make things work.

With Mars transiting the last degrees of Virgo between June 27 and July 2, whatever you’re doing is going to be getting feedback. Interactions are opportunities which allow you to ‘experiment’ with how to do things and some will pan out. But in many senses, this is a time when the ‘no’ or the ‘it doesn’t work’ is more valuable than ever. During these days ‘no’ and ‘no response’ and not gaining traction or reaction or attention (constructive attention) is a lesson. It’s life trying to inform you that you are doing something wrong. Or maybe that you don’t know enough yet.

 A photograph of Mars taken by the Hubble

Telescope - photo credit: NASA-JPL

The opportunity here is to take what you learn (the Mercury part) and to refine what you’re doing and how you’re doing it – that being the Mars part.

Getting things to work (or at least work better) is the aim of Mars in Virgo. The hard part here is not thinking that it’s somebody else’s “job.” It’s not. No matter what planet passes through Virgo, the object involves three precepts:

1. You need to know your stuff. If you don’t know enough, now is the time to learn, refine your methods – whatever brings you closer to “perfection in competence” (not that perfection actually exists!)

2. All Virgo situations, relationships and interactions require responsibility, morality, punctuality and a willingness to do the work and get the work done.

3. Under Virgo, ego needs to take a step back. Typically a ‘team players’ sign, Virgo difficulties often stem from not being willing to be deal with others as equals.

Equals? Yes, equals – maybe not in functionality, but in the total structure of the thing. The boss may be the boss, but if there aren’t any employees, how much of a boss can they be? Under Virgo, there is no ‘indignity’ of position. With Virgo, anyone or any act which has validity is as valid as any other. Some may need to be done first (it seems silly to try to install windows in a building the foundation of which hasn’t even been dug yet, right?) but all things are needed if the whole is to have integrity.

Once Mars reaches Libra on July 3rd, Mars rises above the horizon of the natural zodiac. This means a couple of things. For one, things which have been going on ‘with us’ become more visible to others…which can be good and bad at the same time. On one side you won’t have to explain yourself as much. On the other, you won’t be able to ‘hide’ things which you might not need to be ‘out there’ for all to see, discuss or react to.

Libra being the sign of the scales, that old ‘what you put out comes back to you’ theory becomes more obvious.

 Harvard's 1888 tug-of-war team

(photographer unknown)

So if you operate to the positive, you’ll get positive back…providing what you put out there is really positive – and not just some pipe dream you’re holding onto. (Remember that Leo Mercury thing?) Some folks will try to hold onto a dreams or some illusion under this Mercury/Mars combination. Some will deny that anything’s wrong. Considering how Libra is not only the sign of agreements but seriously contentious arguments (lawsuits included) this isn’t a terrific choice, but we will all run into one or two people who are determined not to deal with any facts.

During the whole of this July 3rd through August 22nd Mars-in-Libra transit mistakes can be turned into triumphs by owning your responsibility and volunteering to make it up. Or do better. This is an excellent time for self-discovery, or – especially because Mercury will be going retrograde in such a creative sign – a time when you may make some rather extraordinary discoveries.

This idea of Mars as a ‘connection between Venus and Mercury’s station points describes a period when we’re all trying to move (Mars) in a (Venus) productive direction. That Mercury will go retrograde for three weeks (from July 15 through early on August 8) indicates a ‘pause in the action,’ a ‘waiting for results,’ or a ‘reconsidering’ of choices or priorities.

Those of us who are able to be honest with ourselves will emerge from Mercury retrograde with more good things than we go in with. Those who are kidding themselves about the difference between preference and ability will feel increasingly shut out.

 The very thing we love so much in dogs - their endless

 desire to simply please and in doing so, remain a

 beloved part of the "group" is something we humans could

 probably learn a lot from. With intelligence and heart, the big

 difference between dogs and people would seem to be (alas!)

 the human's ego-need to have their own way rather than that

 which gets the result they want. How very Libra a test is that!

(photo credit Ron Armstrong April 2007)

As always with Libra, there’s a tendency to project. From June 27 through mid-July as Mars leaves the orb of M87 our ability to see life differently can be a huge advancement. For many, their spirits will rise. Some will find themselves feeling more creative and inventive than ever.

And some will lose their balance. Like as not, our greatest difficulties during this time will involve some sense of inability to do something about whatever the problem is.

But is that true? Even in cases of illness, it has been proven that mindset matters quite a lot. Mars in Virgo – and to an even greater degree, Mars in Libra – requires that we recognize ourselves as the causal energy in our own lives. Those who think others aren’t ‘good enough’ are generally, somewhere deep down inside, feeling unworthy. Those who are willing to open up and share, learn and grow – those are the people who will succeed during this time.

Give or take (another Libra quality) the individuality of each situation, there are a few things we do know about Libra. Libra delivers results in accordance with our quality.

What you put out will now come back to you.

Yes, this is the official sign of cause-effect. Aries (which Mars rules) is about what we DO. But in Libra, what we 'do' turns into a result. Or a defeat.

The good news is that you’re in charge. The good OR bad news is that who you’re in charge of is your Self.

Mercury in Leo

 Image adapted from a photo of a Namibian Lion taken

by yaaaay in July 2004

Mercury enters Leo on Tuesday, June 26th at 2:25 in the morning, UT/+0 time. That this happens to be the exact day between Saturn going direct (on the 25th) and Venus going direct (on the 27th) is something akin to astrological trumpets blaring…blinding lights flashing…

Okay, so it’s not quite earthshaking – we’ll leave that to Saturn. Or better yet, to the concept of these days as a whole.

In general, Mercury entering Leo is a time for one’s mind to either take flight…or when we are challenging ourselves to take on ‘the new’ and – at least mentally - risky. This is a combination which is daring…or which at least dares us to be daring. Yet at the same time, there’s a self-consciousness which goes with Mercury in Leo which for some can be utterly debilitating. We don’t want to be wrong…we would hate to look foolish. What if we give the party and nobody comes? What if we run for office and not a vote is cast in our favor?

What will others think?

To be honest, that last piece is sort of the core of the apple. What will others think is not really about them – it’s about how you would feel if they didn’t approve.

This is Leo’s vulnerability showing through. Leo is a fire sign, enhanced and cursed with the brilliance of imagination. The child who dreams of being a hero, a celebrity, a ruler of nations is our Leo heart – and yes, we all have one! Children and childhood embrace Leo’s most natural expression, though…as poet Ogden Nash observed, the trouble with a kitten is that / eventually it becomes a cat.

That’s right – we grow up. And as we grow up, we lose that childish innocence. (Or at least we’re supposed to!) In its place grows an awareness of others, and how we can maybe entertain them. Or at times, laugh at our own foolishness.

With Mercury in Leo, all that returns. We want to frolic – at least in our minds – like children. We want to do those things which strike us as interesting and exciting. And yet…once we’re not children, we’re…not children anymore.

Thus develops our self-consciousness, a reflexive twinge of wondering what others would do if we actually were childish and bold and excitable and innocent.

As any planet passes through Leo sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. And the divider between the two is pretty much always time and place. There’s a time for everything. There’s a place for play, a place for responsibility. And contrary to the imaginative Leo drive, those definitions aren’t ours. They’re defined by life – our life in particular and the lives of those around us.

 Mercury as seen by Messenger in October of 2008

photo credit: NASA-JPL

When Leo does as it darn well pleases, sometimes its tolerated. More often, it comes off as haughty, even selfish and arrogant.

Saturn in Leo is notorious for this hard-headed sort of ‘my way is best!’ sort of stuff. And with Saturn still on station, having gone direct scarcely a day ago, Mercury entering Leo just might pick up some extra I’m-focused-on-me energy as Mercury hits Leo’s fixed sign boundary.

Fortunately, that’s not likely to last long….three, four days at most? Hopefully yes – unless you go bonkers offending people of course! (Then you’re on your own.)

Those who do well at this time will be working on projects or efforts which embrace self-expression but which take others into account. With Mercury in Leo, connectivity counts. It’s okay to shine and ‘do your thing’ so long as you’re not expecting applause. Delight others and you will be delighted by their response – that’s the key.

Mercury’s also entering Leo in some rather interesting company: asteroids Athena and Hera. Athena is always the dispassionate side of intelligence, heightening the need to think about what we’re doing. That we don’t think about is likely to come back to haunt us, especially with Hera around to be in critical mode.

But that’s not the way it has to be. Hera can also represents the nurturing support which is such an essential part of any ‘team’ effort – and here we’re referring to ‘team’ in the most generous of ways. In other words, this doesn’t have to be about a group of people.

It could be you working with an organization of some sort – you doing your part and the company doing it’s part. It could be two people doing two very different things miles apart which at some point will merge and mesh.

Productivity which has a point is one great way to go here. Know why you’re doing what you’re doing and don’t get ahead of yourself. Being that this Mercury ingress is bedded between Saturn and Venus’ turn to direct this is an extraordinary opportunity to do something which will prove beneficial, especially in the long run.

But that’s only one of several themes which can come of Mercury entering Leo in the august company of Saturn and Venus’ stations.

Mercury in Leo having a natural ‘play time’ vibe, if you’re going on a vacation, bon voyage! It would be lovely to have time off now, and all the better if its voluntary. 

There are however, some who will at this point show absolutely signs that they’re in dire need of rest. Venus long retrograde has exacerbated exhaustion and exhausting situations (particularly those which strain the mental capacity to keep up some pace) and its to be anticipated some will now succumb to just that. If so, using the Leo Mercury period as a time to care for yourself is apt.

On a whole other side of the coin (literally) Saturn/Venus together are a signature of business finance. Ordinarily, one would think that the combined turn to direct on the part of these two planets would symbolize business fortune.

However in this case, Saturn is going direct in exact opposition to dwarf planet Eris, an object named for the Roman goddess known as Discordia.

 Every year, the pattern of planetary passages changes.

This year, Mercury enters Leo with the Sun in Cancer - a

combination which asks where we're going and what

we're going to do with our life? That the Sun is in Cancer's

last third as Mercury goes retrograde is a signal to think

twice and aim at things which work all the way around,

not just for us. With much of Mercury's upcoming

retrograde happening with the Sun in Leo, there's a lot

of pressure on everyone. Don't deny it - think about what

it means. You have a chance to build anew, but that means

letting go of old preconceptions and...in particular...those

old stubborn thoughts and patterns you "know" don't

work for you any more, but which you just hate to be

"made" to let go of. That reluctance isn't about what

others say, it's about your fear of change. Try to let go. 

Add to that the fact that Mercury in Leo is notoriously a period of rough financial water and stock market volatility/instability and things look a bit dicey.

Mercury will indeed be going retrograde in Leo come July 15th, and Mercury retrograde in Leo isn’t a positive signature for Things Financial.

But let’s be real here: this is Mercury we’re talking about. So what this is – really – is a crisis of confidence. It’s about human insecurity…remember what we talked about with regards to Leo as a general concept?

So no jumping off buildings, people. Leave that to the experts (the base jumping crowd).

What is all of this about? This is just another ‘shudder’ (speaking of ground shaking) in a universal process meant to shift us from directions we have been headed into directions we will sooner or later adopt as where we’re going. Call it the end of the Mayan creation round, call it the slow evolution out of the astrological Age of Pisces into the Aquarian Age…whatever you call it, it’s some tough, some confusion and in the end, meant to get us to think of life – our life and all of life – as less of a competition, less of an ‘us and them,’ less of a divisionary thing and more of a universal project of building, forming and learning.

The hard part (yes, there is always a hard part) is that we’re so used to the rich and the poor. We’re so used to protecting ourselves instead of using our lives to provide and protect everyone.

It’s the difference between ‘my family’ and the ‘family of mankind.’

The more married we are to the status quo, the harder this Mercury/Leo ingress and the months to come will be. It can’t be our way – it has to be about what works.  

That may require radical changes, most of all in how we think.

But if we don’t consider the possibilities, isn’t that just being…childish? This really is our chance to return to our childhood – life itself is in a sense, starting anew, a process it does every 2,160 (by the astrological clock).

So…Mercury is entering Leo. What are you going to grow yourself into being?