Asteroids, Mars and Pluto - oh, my! (plus a little Mercury note just because…)

 Great Observatories present a 'Rainbow of a Galaxy'

photo credit: NASA-JPL-Caltech-ESA

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Here's the roll-out for this week:

Monday (December 13): Tantalus enters Pisces

Tuesday (December 14): Transiting Mars

conjuncts Pluto - Pelion goes direct

Wednesday (December 15): Kallisto goes direct

Friday (December 17): Phaethon enters Aquarius

- Sphinx enters Scorpio

Saturday (December 18th): Mercury retrogrades

back into Sagittarius

That’s two asteroids going direct, three changing signs, Mercury backing into Sagittarius and transiting Mars conjuncting Pluto.

Mind you, ALL of this is happening under Mercury retrograde. So no matter what happens in life or the world, the real point is reflective. It’s about what all of this evokes in your personal ‘think tank’ (as author Will James put it in a wonderful children’s book called Smokey the Cow Horse).

Retrogrades are about challenging ourselves. Learning more about what we’re capable of – by which we don’t mean whether you have the capability or capacity to climb Mount Everest. This is also about whether you are capable of lying to others, or yourself. Are you maybe selfish, even though you constantly ‘do’ for others? Martyrdom can be very manipulative – just as generosity can be controlling.

Why do you resist certain things or ideas? Why do some things totally fascinate you? Why we are who we are and not something or someone else why we do this and don’t do that, these are all retrograde questions.

At the moment, specifically Mercury questions. The nuances and details count. The ‘how to’s and what I know/don’t know counts. What I put first, second, tenth and last now counts. What I think I want versus what I do or don’t do now counts.

Let’s also remember that against this background we have Pluto playing footsie with North Node in early Capricorn. Change, and the need to change, are front and center in our world, and in our personal lives.

There are a lot of Black Holes being conjuncted and opposed by the North Node, Pluto, Mars and Mercury – all in Sagittarius. There are other ways to see life – will we see them? More importantly, will we tackle them or learn from them or ignore them?

Also to remember – we had a whole handful of factors (asteroids) move into yang (pro-active) signs just last week. So the engine is there. The need is there. With Mercury retrograde, this equals either some degree of impatience or frustration (for those who continue expecting life to fulfill their desire for gratification) or motivation (for those who recognize what they need to do in order to set things up for success-yet-to-come).

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Thus we come to Monday (December 13th) and Tantalus moving from Aquarius into Pisces at 1:37pm (UT/+0). The myth of Tantalus is a pretty gruesome one. What it amounts to however, is the idea that ‘might’ (of whatever form) does not equal right. Tantalus also delivers a big lesson about spite.

Bottom line, wherever Tantalus is by transit, that describes a general area of life where we get tempted to exercise power as a matter of ‘because I can’ or because ‘I want to get back at you’ for reasons which are all about my selfishness, or lack of personal self worth.

A fast-moving Apollo group asteroid which at its farthest orbits just beyond Mars and which at its closest zips just inside Venus (obviously crossing Earth’s path along the way) Tantalus entered Sagittarius on November 4, Capricorn on November 19 and Aquarius on December 1st.

That ‘Apollo group’ notation does tell us one more thing about Tantalus – that it is, in the end, about revealing the unpleasant truth…about us, others, and life on the whole. With Mercury now in retrograde, this implies we are moving several weeks where our own worst enemy may well be our emotions or emotional expectations, which may just eat us up if, where and when we don’t stop to get a grasp on the difference between our feelings and the intentions of others.

This is not to say other people are angelic – all is says is that we need to know who is doing what, and why they’re doing it. Disappointments, whether about others or ourselves, are likely to be about disparate sets of emotional standards.

And what does that mean? Really?

That would be a Mercury retrograde question. Think about it.

 A hypergiant star's massive outburst

photo credit: NASA/JPL

 

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With Tuesday, December 14 as the date of transiting Mars conjuncting Pluto, the cosmic clock strikes a chime of huge and vital potential. The basic symbolism here is ‘creation’ and ‘release’ with the number of ways that can happen being a list as long as the seconds in a day. Discoveries, revelations, good news, bad news, shocking events, exciting surprises, mind-boggling life-changing ideas – it’s all here in the mix.

What every happens, its big – that’s indicated by the power potential of Mars/Pluto being underscored by Pelion (big challenges) going direct. Direct motion always being an indicator of something which comes at us from outside.

Mars conjuncts Pluto at 4:14am (UT/+0). Pelion goes direct at 7:56 pm (UT/+0). That puts the Mars/Pluto quality of ‘explosive energy’ (at 4 Capricorn) in a very close-to-exact square with Pelion AND coming to life some hours in advance of when Pelion going direct at 5 Aries, a degree known for ‘presenting problems which cannot be avoided’ even without Pelion being present.

Getting a hint?

Let’s also consider what Pelion is. It’s not a ‘regular’ asteroid – it’s a centaur, which adds a whole other note about using our heads rather than going with instincts or raw desires (that being a centaur thing).

Like we need that the day after Tantalus enters Pisces?

As for Pelion’s orbit, it has an orbit which is in a celestial intertwining with that of Uranus. Since Uranus is a planet we can’t see with the naked eye, this makes Uranus and Pelion both objects representing things which just ‘happen.’ We don’t get to change it, we don’t get to avoid it, we probably don’t even know its coming.

Where have we heard that before?

Those who have planets, axis points or nodal positions between 0 and 10 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn are going to feel this ‘turn of events’ most acutely. Considering Mercury just having taken its turn into retrograde at 5 Capricorn, this is a whole ‘change of thought’ season for you anyway (in other words, you probably already have gotten the memo, whether or not you want to deal with it!).

But now, the (Pelion) size of your challenge is really taking shape. Life is really, truly in your face, probably forcing you to do some tall (Mercury retrograde) thinking about how – good or bad - you got to the point where you are now.

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And no, we’re not done! Kallisto goes direct at 1:11am (UT/+0) on Wednesday, December 15. This station taking place at 24 Aries puts the Mars/Pluto (Pelion) energy in Kallisto’s shadow/direct, telling us that there are ‘Kallisto possibilities’ to be had if you bear with.

Bad pun, that…the ‘bear with’ thing, I mean. Why? Because Kallisto’s story is about vindication in spite of the craven acts of others. It’s a complicated story – but essentially Kallisto vows to serve Artemis – she who we would call ‘emotional insight’ by remaining  chaste.

But Zeus (Jupiter) takes one look at the comely Kallisto, and perhaps because she doesn’t want to be ‘known’ (in the bliblical sense) he decides to take what he wants. And after the rape, Zeus hide his bad behavior by transforming Kallisto into a bear – a beast to cover up his beastly act.

Several tragic scenes later Artemis (she of emotional insight) recognizes what’ has happened. And though she can’t undo that which Jupiter has done (we cannot ‘unring’ the bell of knowledge), the power of emotional insight (Artemis) mitigates the transformation by turning Kallisto into the constellation we know today as the Great Bear.

In other words – to put this in modern parlance, through terrible pain (or maybe in spite of all that suffering), Kallisto becomes a star.

As a main belt asteroid, Kallisto represents things we learn about as we go through daily life – and life as a whole. The degree of this station reveals to us the pluses and minus of how we use our ‘creative energy,’ with split being generally between being creative in life or pouring all that energy into sexuality. Life now shows us how well that is working for us.

When combined with all the other influences of this time – and (let’s not forget) the effects of the January Capricorn Solar Eclipse building and thus dissolving some of our ‘life structures,’ the real question would seem to be where our life is taking us, and whether we need to take energy out of one pot and put it into another, whether we are beasts, or whether we are poised to become a star not only in our own life, but in the lives of others.

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 The 'almost invisible' aftermath of a giant star's death

photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Come Friday at 4:35pm (UT/+0) on December 17th, Phaethon enters Aquarius. If you didn’t read yesterday’s blog on the Geminids, you may want to start there. Otherwise, as Phaethon enters Aquarius that adds get more itchiness to the ‘let me get this done!’ yang fire (and fieriness of the moment) and yet…

…and yet, let’s not forget that Mercury is still in retrograde. Considering Phaethon’s headstrong, overreaching quality, that would seem to be part of the theme of the moment: are you overreaching? Have you overreached? Have you taken a big fall or scorched your chances or ‘burned bridges’ in some way, shape or form?

With this also being the date that Sphinx enters Scorpio (at 10:22pm - UT/+0). We all know the Great Sphinx of Giza – a symbol of patience and endurance. But Sphinxes have other meanings. Oedipus meets a Sphinx along the road who asks him a riddle. Ultimately, that Sphinx represents what he might have learned had he stopped to think everything through.

With Sphinx being a main belt asteroid which orbits nearer to Mars than Jupiter, this symbol is more about what we do and why we do it. In entering Scorpio, it asks that we have the patience to recognize how others feel and why they feel that way. AND to recognize how having breezed by questions posed along the road we may have ended up exactly where we didn’t want to go – a la  Oedipus (though we’re certainly not referencing the exact circumstances of his story.)

But there is to recognize that Scorpio is jointly ruled by Mars (first) and Pluto (as outcome of our Mars choices). This again underscores the Mars/Pluto conjunction, the Pelion challenge(s) – whatever that may mean in your life.

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As Mercury retrogrades back into Sagittarius at 2:54pm (UT/+0) on Saturday, December 18, determination softens. Attitudes become less hardened. There’s room for discussion, though be prepared – some people are simply not going to negotiate!

And that too is part of what we have to learn now. Whether its our standing on or for some point we absolutely know (or maybe have even just learned) the facts are the facts. Reality is reality. Life can be some things we want it to become but it isn’t that way simply because we want it to be that way.

It’s a busy week. There’s a lot of energy focused within each of our lives and each of our minds. Especially as Mercury re-enters Sagittarius, ‘haste’ becomes a big thing we all want to avoid. That in itself may be a challenge – but being challenged…isn’t that what life is really all about?

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Venus/Jupiter Direct, Polyhymnia Retrograde: Traction...Attraction...Understanding

The Morning - by Philipp Otto Runge (1808)

Today, planets Venus and Jupiter go direct. It's time for us to stop having to deal with learning (Jupiter) about our Venus needs (and neediness) on the inside and start with the doing and having of real time, real life experiences and experiential situations which will allow us to get somewhere, do, accomplish and enjoy ourselves.

Or at least, that's the plan, right?

Astrologers (and astrology) once referred to 'good' and 'bad' planets - the 'benefics' versus the 'malifics.' It was a bit of an old time silent movie, I gotta tell you...Venus was the good and beautiful maiden, Jupiter was the rich uncle, Saturn was the wicked bad guy (which probably made Saturn's rings the mustache said bad guy was always twirling) and Mars was sometimes the hero and sometimes the dastardly murderer.

There are still forms of astrology (notably Vedic, which comes from a more 'fated' point of view) which tend to see planets and planetary motions and statements as 'decrees.' But western astrology, which for reasons I loathe to explain is known as 'tropical astrology' (hand me the coconut, please?)...western astrology has gone all psychological.

Thus planets are associated with human attributes, and in the same way that we know the Moon pulls on the oceans causing tides, the whole of the solar system - indeed the cosmos - becomes a giant clockwork mechanism.

 Clockworks in the Deutsches-Uhren museum (detail)

photo credit: HNH (2008)

Planets don't "do" anything...but the influences they are simply by being what they are, those wavelengths of gravitational magnetism or whatnot...or merely the ripples of space distortion a planet sends out by moving through space (like a boat's wake)...those ripple through our solar system.

Astrology is just the watch on our arm. A wrist watch doesn't define time. It isn't 'time itself.' What it marks is a relative position in time which allows you and everyone else to be oriented and synced up. Knowing that the Moon does the same thing for the tides, over the past six thousand years or so attentive human beings have been amassing information on what planetary movements do.

That body of 'knowing' (Jupiter again) is made real (Venus) in astrology. And very helpfully, science is now catching up with us planet watchers. Slowly but surely, experiments and theorems not only prove out how the universe works, but that astrology is real and thus astrologers are not nitwits.

Okay, so some of us well may be nitwits - as people. But astrology, providing it's treated as a science and not a toy... that's  real. As real as that Moon and them ocean tides, astrology is the 'wrist watch' which tells us when cosmic clockwork strikes some hour as planetary, asteroidal, TNO, dwarf planet or any other kind of influence reaches us on earth.

I hope you find that moving, as Polyhymnia is going retrograde today. It's thus a very good day to allow yourself to be moved. And as Polyhymnia goes on being retrograde in the months to come, it pays to remember that to be moved, you have to allow yourself to feel.

Which yes, for some is scary. And for others, it's so carefree and evident that while it can be wonderful, it can also prove problematic. Even dangerous.

The moral: we feel the feeling. What we do about that... whether we embrace that, act on the spirit of being moved usefully or gracelessly, whether we deny difficult feelings and only go for the easy or candy floss - those are factors which contribute to how our life goes.

You know...in that old silent movie vein.

Poster for 1914's "The Perils of Pauline," 

quiet easily the most classic (or at least archetypal) of 

hero-villain-'damsel in distress' silent movie tales.

Getting back to that for a moment, Venus and Jupiter are not all good. That old term ('benefics') didn't take into account that security and satisfaction (Venus) doesn't make you a happy person. You can have it all (Jupiter) and still be miserable. Saturn requires effort and holding ourselves to an internally-defined standard, but Saturn is also the great symbol of what you earn you get. Saturn promises achievement if we will try, try again. Or just keep trying (dedication-wise).

As modern astrology acquires more points and the astrophysical science of our cosmos becomes more evident, more and more we are faced with the reality that its our willingness to be who we are and to deal first and foremost with ourselves which determines what we get out of life. And this is not about wealth versus poverty. It can't be - look around. There are a lot of very unhappy wealthy people and a lot of contented people who have very little.

Its about us. It's about our expectations. And this moment, this tri-party station, is in many senses all about expectations.

That said, we have a few other indicators. The first is where all these celestial objects are, and what is 'with them' and what is 'against them' (in opposition).

Venus being the most basic of attributes in this station recipe, we'll start with Venus - our cause/effect ability to make things happen and by that, feel secure (or otherwise) in life. Going retrograde at 9:17 in the evening (Universal Time/+0) Venus is positioned at 27 Libra with Atropos (endings). This is if nothing else a 'getting real' signal, so we can safely say this is a time when we either cut something out, or stop being unreal (the 'anti-Venus' concept, if you will) about who we are, who others are, the value of what we are/aren't doing and what we need to do in life in order to achieve our "Venus goals" of feeling satisfied and secure - at least with who we are and how we live.

Because Venus is going direct and Atropos is in direct motion at this moment, it's very likely that situations or (Libra) interactions deliver a message now about this 'reality' - or lack of same - in your life. You feel moved, to use the Polyhymnia term. And maybe that's the point! Maybe things you couldn't/wouldn't see or hear now become obvious. It's time to deal with (Venus) reality - and yes, realities - if we are to ever get where we want to go in being our own person, and in life as a whole.

A nice note comes from the 27 Libra quality, which here lends a note of 'intangible implacability'...which again suggests that we're getting real. Or that maybe someone is our life says something which cuts through all the mental foo-foo and really gets us where we live. Maybe something happens and we just have to accept it and move on from there.

It could be one...or all of these things and more.

Big red Jupiter, our Jovian (if not jovial) planetary aspect - the thrill of enlightenment, one might say...Jupiter goes direct at 4:53 pm (UT/+0). (Remember to adjust to to your local time zone!) Going direct at 23 Pisces, the most exact aspect to Jupiter in this moment is an opposition to Nemesis at 23 Virgo.

Nemesis being the 'standing up for the truth' (whether we like that truth or not) sets this opposition up to be a moment of discomfort. Not necessarily tragic, but probably not what we wanted to hear, see or think - most of all about ourselves. Nemesis being at 23 Virgo adds to this dilemma by describing a frustration between a resistance to realities or one's own nature. This may be about limitation(s), then again, it maybe part of that 'I've taken this position and by gum, I'm going to stick with it even though I know its' wrong, it's ridiculous, its even damaging.'

In other words, expect some ego to be in the mix today. And though you may well experience it in others, the most critical point of ego transition here is yours.

Remember: transits, like life events, on the metaphysical (as opposed to spiritual, which tends to be more "fate" oriented) level are not about doing things 'to you.' or even 'for you.' Much as we tend to experience or internalize them that way, if we believe the great central metaphysical statement that...

 

....then we have our tantrum or elation de jour, then we get on with recognizing that events are meant to evoke (Polyhymnia) in us whatever needs to be better understood and 'grown' (Jupiter) so that we can, in time, be secure, be satisfied and have the life we want (Venus).
Meanwhile, about the Polyhymnia evoking thing...yon muse of evocation (and one hopes happiness) herself is going retrograde at 0 Leo. Leo being the sign about what I do for my own enjoyment means we recognize now that some facet of our enjoyment or the really being happy with (or because of) said facet requires us to do some more inside work....that being indicated by the idea that Polyhymnia will go retrograde in 0 Leo but immediately retrograde back into Cancer...the land of family, habits which have grow out of childhood conditioning, basic needs (roof over head, food - that stuff) and how all such things tie together.

Mixing this Polyhymnia/0 Leo thing in with the Jupiter-Nemesis thing it would seem apparent that there is a temptation, yea verily a longing (do I hear a deep sigh?) to buy into that slogan, that excuse, that 'hey dude, it'll all be the same in a hundred years, why sweat it?' thing.

And no doubt some will do just that now - they will cast the idea of working towards lasting personal growth into the wind in favor of growing some personal pleasure (Leo)...probably one which is...fairly new to them (0 Leo).

We also know that at this time a lot of outside influences are in the mix. How do we know that? That we know by the fact that Jupiter and Venus are both in third decan degrees of respective signs.

Remember? First decan: zero to 9 - personal and proactive qualities. Second decan: 10 through 19 - emotional attributes. Third decan: degrees 20 through 29 of any given sign, this being where the sign manifests through external means. It may be feedback, it may be invitations, it may be goading, it may be people or external (3rd decan) situations which get us where we live - either physically, or on the inside.

So the Jupiter and Venus of it all are situational. Or responses from others (or corporate entities, etc.) But the effect is on us. And with Polyhymnia in what is technically known as an out-of-sign opposition to Circe (the sorceress who reduces people to an animalistic state)....and Orpheus (magical talents which can save us or cause us to sacrifice ourselves)....AND Scheat (public disapproval)?

Oy! There's a whole lot of input going on!

Our senses, never mind our internal Bank of Cravings is likely to be overflowing...or broken, busted and feeling desperately in need of contribution. It's a tug-of-war between ourselves and ourselves in projected form. What we see out there - whether it's a temptation or its our own press (reputation) that we're believing - it's a whole sort of reality/unreality test. It's "Damn Yankees" or "Bedazzled" or any of a hundred other stories, movies or sagas which rest on that Faustian idea that we have only to surrender our "soul" (our control of self) so as to have unlimited pleasures and knowledge.

 Rembrandt's dry-point etching/engraving of Faust (1652)

And it doesn't matter whether what your pleasures of the moment are to live in your own little peaceful world or if your pleasures are intellectual, spiritual or absolutely wanton. The point is that when we give up on working on ourselves, no matter what we gain after that, who really are we?

That's the Faustian problem...and thus why in every version of Faust's story the protagonist finally realizes that realism...with all its highs and lows, its ouches and pleasures...that ownership of self is the real human deal.

Being a successful person, no matter what we would like to think, is about accepting that life is not all sunshine. It's not all light. If it was, nothing would have shape. The richness of life is the shading of our experiences.

So while there's likely to be all sorts of worldly personal drama around at the moment, maybe it pays to bear in mind that just as shadows give depth and form and beauty to an image, so difficulties and the acceptance of pain, loss and reality not as a 'happy life' but as something which moves us to be better people or experience every day of our lives in all the grandeur, with all the sweetness and yes, with the bitterness of some finalities... maybe that's what really gives meaning and ultimately, a sense of accomplishment to our existing here, in this time on this planet.

Yes, maybe that's the reason for life, and to recognize that life is both amazing...and in reality, all too fleeting.

 An April dawn...our life springs eternal as long as

we are willing to grow and be renewed, and remade anew

in our own better interest by our own better knowing

of who we are...and our better regard for our nature

and that of the world in which we live.

The Libra New Moon

 The Moon as seen through Earth's atmosphere (source: NASA)

As October 7 brings the mysterious quality of the 'you see it but don't see it' New Moon to our skies, Venus is on station and many of us are indeed wondering 'what now?'...or 'are things going to get better - or worse?'

Like the New Moon - the unlit light in the sky, this  lurking sense of knowing what's real but also feeling 'in the dark' about things lingers, hanging in the air. It may  be all about truly not knowing. Then again, it may be all about knowing that you don't know what's going to happen - or that you don't know everything you want or feel you need to know about something important.

Or which you think is important...and yet...maybe it isn't as important as you think?

Oh, the unknowns! Its so very unsettling!

So what do we know. Well, for one we know that if you're someone whose natal chart has a point, node or cusp between 8 and 18 of Scorpio, Taurus, Aquarius, Leo, Pisces or Cancer, this New Moon like as not moves you into a 'new phase' with regards to the function(ality) of that point. 

And yet...given Venus about to go retrograde, though things are changing, you don't quite know what they're changing to. That part is yet unknown.

For you, things may see not entirely sweet. Even if they're good, there's a sense that the good may not last. Or that there's some important fact you haven't yet been told.

Just on the face of it, this New Moon occurring at 14 Libra (a 2nd decan 'emotional' degree) also says that this is a very 'feeling' time. You may hear emotions behind someone's words. Something may all of a sudden prompt a feeling reaction on your part. Given the semi-sextile between the New Moon and Venus' position on station, this isn't all comfortable, either.

And it isn't the final word. Things are in flux. They are 'taking a turn' but even that isn't the total bottom line.

Yet none of this needs to spell disaster. Far from it! For some, this will be a moment when you see how things work, when you recognize how to realign yourself or reorient, re-prioritize or reconfigure your efforts so that they become more effective and personally profitable. 

You may even figure out how to get yourself out of some sticky, ikky pickle!

Whatever happens, the thing to understand that with  Venus going retrograde 'easy' isn't the byword of the moment. Nor is 'instant gratification' likely to be on the mortal menu. Taking a bit of care now is apt, though we will all do well not to clog up the works - or to hesitate so long to make our decisions that we miss our chances or get caught in some messy situation! 

Remembering that Venus retrograde can manifest as feeling 'on our own' (even if there are plenty of people around) is also helpful as this New Moon may set up or initiate what you are going to have to work through personally during Venus retrograde. But again, this isn't necessarily "bad." It could be tedious or testing or even testy - Venus in Scorpio is notoriously stubborn and often an indication of frustration and emotional struggles.

Yet that doesn't mean all is lost. Those who work through this period holding to the facts and calm logic may well emerge from Venus retrograde literally enriched. Or at least emotionally enriched. 

As for this New Moon being  at 14 Libra, that adds a note of interactivity. Why? Because Libra is always at least about the 'I and thou,' whether there's one or a whole group on either (or both) sides of that equation. Libra can never simply be in your head. Or about your heart. Fair or unfair, balanced or unbalanced, Libra requires the give/take of interaction.

Libra is also an air sign, making Libra New Moon and the next 14 (and 29) days about the 'idea' of the thing. With Venus going retrograde in Scorpio, that would seem to emphasize the worth of the thing. The value and cost of it. The motives and motivations behind it. The honesty and experience being brought to the table. The integrity or lack of same which is being made evident.

Given this New Moon is at fourteen Libra, conversations are feeling - even emotional. Discussions, debates, even arguments are possible. Given Venus as ruler of Libra, how we handle emotionality (ours or that of others) is key to greater successes - and it's to remember that prompting someone's emotions or an emotional responses may be exactly what's required in order to get things to shift.

It all rather depends on where everyone is starting from. Those who are emotionally reticent may need to express more. People who are emotionally fervent may need to vent, then tone it down.

Whatever happens, people's feelings and perspectives need to be taken into account in order for some 'better' to come out of current doings.And that may not be easy. The Venus/New Moon semi-sextile may require some relinquishing of positions. It may prompt hard feelings. It may cause someone to 'dig in' until November, which is when Venus retrograde will end.

Masks of Comedy and Tragedy as depicted in a

2nd century CE mosaic which was part of the

Baths of Decius on Aventine Hill in Rome

With 14 Libra known as a degree which evidences a general ability to 'don the mask and play the part,' Venus in semi-sextile also asks 'who is behind that mask?' And if that means you stop to think something through or center yourself, that's apt. After all, New Moons have long been cherished as moments for re-centering and setting intentions.

This is exactly what actors often need to do; what separates the good performance from the Oscar winner is not just about knowing the character, but an actor's ability to know their own nature and thus what they have to draw on. And in part, each New Moon/lunation cycle gives us a new chance to know ourselves better and explore who we can be or become.

Here we are acting through Libra - the point where the "I" meets the "you" (or 'them'). And we're doing it as Venus, the idea of making things real in our lives is taking a turn in Scorpio, the sign which in being the polarity to Taurus tests our relationship to our self worth, talents and values - and our ability to risk those things through interactions with others in our world.

Change is likely and it isn't always going to be (or work) as we expect. The (Libra) balance is shifting anew. And (with Venus going retrograde) things are going to take time to resettle in some new configuration.

Speaking of which, this New Moon includes a planetary picture known as a "magic rectangle"....

October 7th's New Moon planetary picture

As pictured above, the objects at either end of the 'short' sides are connected by sextiles (opportunities). These are options, not requirements. 

The first sextile is between Sun/Moon and Ixion/Antares, suggesting you may not feel like 'doing' anything. Ixion is 'entitled ingratitude' and Antares promises success if obsessions are avoided. So should you do something? Should you wait on someone else? Should you require someone to raise the standard of their behavior? Should you write someone off - or could someone write you off now? Is this an apology getting made? One due? Getting ignored? Walking away from someone or something?

Specifics depend on where 14 Libra (the New Moon) and 15 Sag (Ixion and Antares) falls in your natal chart. Whatever it is, if this New Moon (or 13 Scorpio) aspect your natal chart with any specificity, this moment is going to 'mean' something to you. It may be "good riddance" or it may be "finally!" or it may be "WTF?" but it's something.

The other 'short' side being with integral strength of information/being informed (Rigel/Achilles/Aldebaran) and the vast potential (Chaos) which comes of that providing you care to avail yourself of an opportunity (the sextile) to begin something (Klotho)...with a little note that this 'something' is 'platonic' (Amor). 

In other words, this isn't the moment for new hot romance, but it might be the moment to make a great deal. Or work on a friendship. Or when you have an opportunity to learn something which could ultimately be valuable to you. 
 
The long sides of the magic rectangle are 'ongoing' situational trines with the whole of this picture being whether any of us are willing to own up to our mistakes and make changes. Are we? Are you?

The New Moon tells us this is the moment. Venus retrograde says whatever it is, its not exactly fun.

We might learn to like it, but in this moment...probably everybody's going to be a little resistant now to just about anything or everything.

And if it's just a little? Then maybe you should color yourself lucky!

One of the great Libra lessons is about broadening our perspective. And maybe that's the point. If we feel under pressure or frustrated, maybe this is the month, the time, the lunation when we realize that we really aren't all that terribly alone. Seeing as one of the big Libra precepts is the energetic we know generally as the law of cause-(equaling)-effect, maybe this Libra New Moon is all about learning to give to others and help them with what they need so that in turn, they'll help us with ours.

If that's true, then Venus retrograde becomes a lesson in realizing how selfish and self absorbed we've been. And though that may hurt to admit, once we admit it and let go, it's gone, leaving us to live a life enriched by the rich company we are privileged to keep and love calling our beloved own.

Astrological Astronomy: NASA News

A classic NASA photo of planet Jupiter 

Largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter is sometimes referred to as a 'vacuum cleaner' simply because its enormous mass tends to attract and 'sweep up' stray cosmic pebbles - wandering asteroids of varying sizes.

So yesterday (Thursday), NASA sent out one of its Science News circulars to everyone signed up on their email feed. As usual, the text was friendly and concise...

NASA Science News for Sept. 9, 2010

In a paper published today in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, a group of professional and amateur astronomers announced that Jupiter is being hit by small asteroids, lighting up the giant planet's atmosphere with frequent fireballs.

With this (as always) came a link to the appropriate Science News webpage.

On said page, NASA talks about various amateur and professional astronomers recording instances of asteroids hitting Jupiter, and how these seem to be getting more frequent (maybe) ...and how all this is well worth continuing to investigate.

Obviously the astronomical question is whether this is really an uptick in asteroids hitting our giant red neighbor...or whether it's merely part of a continuous celestial drama which has been going on for millions of years with Jupiter cast in the part of a planetary Hoover vacuum.

But metaphysically...? In the metaphysics of astrology, we humans learn things when we're supposed to learn them. So if we're now learning that Jupiter is being peppered with asteroids which explode into fireballs upon hitting Jupiter's atmosphere, on the metaphysical level that would be knowledge and the instinct to expand one's knowledge (Jupiter) having rocks thrown at it. The rocks aren't big enough to disrupt knowledge (or the pursuit of same) but they are enough to attract attention. They're enough to create a stir. They're gaining attention...which maybe is justified and maybe merely represents our getting distraction from something far more worthwhile.

That, we don't know. But if you think about it, what's going on with Jupiter sounds a whole lot like what's going on in general here on Earth. There are many 'bodies of knowledge' held in esteem by various quadrants of society, and they all seem to be getting challenged periodically by someone. 

And that's interesting. It's interesting as a reflection of what we are now learning is going on in our solar system. It's also interesting in the sense that through such discoveries we are actually 'doing the Jupiterian thing' by learning that such ideas are worth knowing and thinking about - even growing into. After all, in the end, it's lasting knowledge which like Jupiter, looms large. And as the planet is, sometimes our ideas, theories and convictions may get peppered with challenges, yes. And as with the asteroids, periodically some ideas will arouse flares and flame ups of disruption.

But real knowledge, that which in time is tempered by knowing experienced and thus transmuted into wisdom...that, like the enormity which is planet Jupiter apparently is pretty much impervious to actual destruction.