Dateblog: March 2014

If you remember how in last month’s Dateblog post we talked about February as a month leading into March… well, now we get the real deal – the real March 2014 which begins with Mars executing a station/retrograde maneuver in Libra as of March 1^st and Saturn doing likewise a day later on the 2^nd.
 
For some, this opening March salvo will be triumph. Some will see efforts long planned and diligently pursued coming to fruition. For others this will be a moment of defeat – or at least feeling defeated. The combination here being Libra-Scorpio (adjacent signs), regrets and offenses dare us to get past all the March 1^st feelings associated with the water sign (Pisces) New Moon in getting on to that which needs getting back to.

And yes, for a few, this Mars-Saturn will (guaranteed) manifest as ‘getting back at.’

Yet apparently that isn’t optimal – now, if it is ever. The greatest effect of Mars going retrograde in Libra is to turn us back towards working on our Self and working on ourselves as ‘causal mechanisms’ in how others respond to us, what happens to our life, whether opportunities are good or merely invitations to further lessons on how we haven’t owned our power yet….

…all that stuff.

And maybe…just maybe in going retrograde, the frustrations and discouraging notes which so tend to accompany Mars’ turn-to-retrograde stations, maybe a few of us will realize that we maybe could have changed things somewhere along the way. And thus the question becomes ‘Did I think too much about them? Did I not think about their perspective at all? Am I going in the right direction? Do these people understand me? Do I really understand what I’m doing or trying to do – and if so, do I know how to get it done?’

Blockades of all types being very typical under Mars retrograde (never mind one evidently backed by Saturn) there’s a natural tendency to rail or feel rejected which may come up now, but the far more (Mars/Saturn) productive thing to do is to tackle all that tough stuff which is seriously not all that much fun but… well… maybe necessary.

Maybe even really necessary – which would at some level be the March theme. And so, as we all turn away from the Libra interacting and putting things out there, we will actually get things done even if what we accomplish may not be exquisitely visible.

Important is important. With Mars now having moved above the zodiac’s natural hemisphere, who we are …what we are and why we do what we do is more public, more ‘visible’ than ever. Could it be we’re not quite ready for worldly prime time?

According to life, there are a few more details which need doing – and we’re going to be directed to doing all those things (whether we want to or not!) so that in universal terms we’re ready to go on to the next thing, be that jolly or rancid.

Against all this we have a month which begins with the Sun in Pisces and which ends with Sun in Aries. Every year when the Sun gets to this point we go through a feeling (Pisces/water sign) time and from that are (fire sign) inspired to become something more. Or to take what we’ve learned and do better. Put very simply and in generalized, phase-oriented terms, Pisces is where we ‘let go’ and allow things to be and become what they will be and become – and that’s where some of our toughest Pisces feelings come from. Where Pisces truly colors our life we tend to surrender – for good or bad (depending).

From that surrender, in the most basic of cycling processes, comes the opportunity to start anew. Or even just to start. When we let go of ‘this,’ life fills that vacuum by spurring us on to doing ‘that.’

The Piscean feeling of loss…or trepidation…or regret…or love for that you have cherished long and deeply…all that is a phase. If we look at the zodiac we know we’re meant to feel and feel ourselves soaked in our own feeling nature, from which comes the surrendering to the inevitability of life and the resignation to renew…and thus be ‘reborn’ to our own willingness to be who we are – the clean-slate Aries Self.
 
With Venus, Mercury and Mars each spending some portion of the month in an air sign (Mercury and Venus in Aquarius, Mars in Libra) March can be expected to pulse back and forth between informational transacting and trying to figure things out. And because in this regard we see the Sun move into Aries just as Mercury moves into Pisces with all this happening as Plutino Ixion and centaur Pholus go retrograde, there’s a definite chance of getting driven off-course towards the latter part of the month.

Or is that off-course in our minds because life isn’t panning out the way we have it (fire sign) envisioned? With the month ending with the inception of an Aries (New Moon) lunation cycle, we may be too innocent, too headstrong or too un-experienced (or even ill-experienced) to get where we think we want to go yet.

There’s more to learn – about ourselves and the world we’re each one of us an intrinsic part of. Life ‘unfolding as it should’ subjects us all to a lot of quandaries, and not one of us is ‘invited’ – all are merely called to attend and then told to sit our derrieres down in the classroom and do our work.

It isn’t our universe – we’re its people, its molecules, its energy in manifestation.

A solar eclipse over Hawaii (photo recolored)

So this March…? With the inner planets in learning signs and the forces for ‘grounded-ness’ in-the-moment being described by Saturn in Scorpio and Pluto in Capricorn there is a loosening of ties in preparation for transformations going on, which seems apt what with April (next month) hosting another of Earth’s solar eclipse events. The process isn’t gentle, and with the eclipse energetic coming from Taurus, our feelings of safety (specific and/or general) or even just satisfaction are being dearly pitted against the need to understand that our problems – more often than not – are about us, not “them.”

It’s an introspective, if still very active month. There is much to be done even though at some (feeling, emotional) level we may not feel we’re getting anywhere.

It’s a process, so be patient – most of all with your Self and those who seem most lost.
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Neptune/Fomalhaut/Deneb: Dissolving Walls

Image based on "Kristallobject, Objectivism, 8°36'44' 49°43'33'"

by Bodo Sperling (1952, Hanau)

This is the story of how our world has come to be where it is…and in part, why we don’t know where we’re going. I invite you to read if you are willing to confront your own emotional vulnerabilities.

To start with…it seems a trifle odd to pair the idea of Neptune, Fomalhaut and clarification in one sentence. After all, Neptune is most typically that which is nebulous. Or dream-like. Neptune is the ‘idea of the thing’ which evokes the feeling in our mind, whether that feeling is good or bad.

(And yes, that goes with the two fishes of Pisces. Have you ever thought of them as good fish/bad fish?)

Then there’s Fomalhaut. One of the great stars of the sky, since long ago times Fomalhaut has represented a promise of success if and where our aims (ahem..dreams of success) are not corrupt or corrupted, corrosive or corruptive.

But who’s to say ‘what’s what?’ Who is to say that your dream is corrupt? If, for instance, you corner the world market in rice (one of our planet’s most important food stuffs), if you do that fair and square, playing by all the rules in the book, how can that be corrupt?

Answer: this is Pisces we’re talking about. And Pisces is the most universal of the water (emotional) signs. Pisces is the common experience of being human and the common emotional sense of being human. Where that emotionality becomes universal, human become humane. And thus, beneath the skin (or scales, if you prefer) Pisces is never ‘just’ about us. It’s always about us and everybody else on the planet.

So if you corner that rice market, why have you bothered to do so? If you’re in the entrepreneurial mode, you have probably done that so as to make money.

But what happens if people can’t pay your price?

That sort of question is where Neptune meets Fomalhaut. Or more specifically, dissolving whatever barriers or walls you have built inside which would even begin to allow you to think that it’s okay for you to raise prices and make money when that means that anyone out there is going to starve because you want another penny on the bushel – that’s Neptune meeting Fomalhaut.

Where humane meets inhumanity – or if you prefer, selfishness or blindness or denial or (on the other side) fear or threats of inability to survive or feelings of helplessness…all those are Neptune meets Fomalhaut. For you, this may be about rice. Or about something else having to do with money. Because Pisces has a connection with toxicity and anything which ‘toxifies’ or ‘detoxifies,’ we can also throw in pollution, addiction, pharmaceuticals, the chemical and oil industries as a whole. Pisces being the premier sign of the ‘Jungian consciousness,’ the emotional side of health care also enters into this – which applies whether you’re talking about emotional reactions to health care, health care entitlements, the ‘entitlement’ of the health care industry, the cost of health care and the cost not having proper health care extracts on a person, from a family, from a society and so on.

Relationships of all types (personal, professional, spiritual, in-person, online, platonic, sexual, familial, etc.) enter into this discussion as Pisces is the sign which most touches on our desire to see relationships as one thing even if in reality, they’re another. Or should be.

We’ve been talking about this for weeks now. Mercury moved into Pisces in early February, and that opened the Neptune window to all sorts of flights of fancy…and the effort to escape realities. And the need to deal with realities, which is really what Pisces is about.

Pisces as a sign says feel your feelings and deal with reality anyway. In separating the two (represented by those two fishes headed in differing directions) we are reminded that life will not ‘allow’ us to totally deny either one. Those two fishes are tied together by an immutable cord, which represents the fact that life depends on both factual reality and an understanding and acceptance of not just our own emotions, but that everybody has their own emotional perspective.

It’s as important for them to understand their emotions as it is for us to understand ours. Unfortunately, being humans (yes, this is where we all sigh) we will all tend to want to correct the ‘other guy’ and stand on (and in) our righteous truth.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t fix the problem. OUR problem is not with them…it’s in being who we are. Or more precisely, who we like to think we are in our minds. Nobody gets up in the morning thinking they’re a bad guy. I don’t care who you pick as your nomination of Ultra Bad Dude, that Bad Dude doesn’t go to the mirror every morning and twirl their handlebar mustache (real or imagined) saying ‘ah yes…how can I be evil today?’

It’s a sobering thought too, that. But true. And what’s really tough is that even though we aren’t a UBD (Ultra Bad Dude) we still look at ourselves in the mirror and miss some of the flaws.

Those flaws are about recognizing our own emotional inconsistencies. And that’s at the core of Neptune conjunct Fomalhaut.

Mind you…as this post goes up, Neptune is just at 3 Pisces. And Fomalhaut is at 4 Pisces. Neptune won’t reach 4 Pisces until March 26, 2013. And in moving just less than a second of arc every day, Neptune will be at 4 Pisces until May 2, 2013.

And yes, Neptune will return to 4 Pisces even after that. In fact, this whole Neptune-Fomalhaut issue has been swimming up on us for some time now.

 A chart of Neptune's transit (in green) through Pisces

4 Pisces being the core of the issue, given that the standard orb of influence is 5 degrees, Neptune entered Fomalhaut’s orb of influence back in 2010.

Has there been much confusion since then? Yes. Has there been an upturn in upsetting events dating back to that time? Give or take the fact that this isn’t an ‘all-or-nothing’ perfect/imperfect world we’re talking about, I think the answer there is ‘yes’ in the Neptune-Fomalhaut (Piscean) sense. In other words, since 2010, more events, more situations, more conversations, more confrontations, more and more things have been forcing us to deal with who we are – really. At our cores. In our hearts. And where something we may feel doesn’t hold true for everyone, which gets back to that most difficult of Pisces truisms: just as I want others to accept my emotional truth, I have to accept that their emotional truth may be different.

WHY those emotional truths are different is the next step in the Pisces lesson. And since Neptune is going to be traversing Fomalhaut’s orb through 2016, apparently we still have plenty of time to learn all about it…(oh, yippee – right?)

And that leads to the next Pisces challenge: accepting that life is not perfect. It’s not that it isn’t ‘supposed’ to be pleasant…it’s just that life is life. When you watch nature documentaries and see a crocodiles rear up out of the river and grab a wildebeest by its nose, dragging the wildebeest down into the water where it will drown and be eaten, that’s the reality of life. Are you happy about it? Probably not. (And granted, the wildebeest is probably far unhappier, at least for a bit.)

But that is life. So…given that humans are at the top of the planetary food chain (give or take stray encounters with tigers, lions and crocodilians) what does that mean?

There are a million ways to think of this question and to answer it. Still…in the end the question becomes something akin to this: do we try, or do we not try? That applies to what we do. It also applies to the standards we hold for ourselves as people and in what we do – or don’t do.

There is no perfection – there’s only trying, or not trying.

(And yes, there is being trying, too…but that’s another perspective on parts A and B!)

And whether we ‘try’ or ‘don’t try’ when it comes to any given thing pretty much comes down to acceptance. Do we accept the status quo? Do we accept that we have likes and dislikes and that sometimes life isn’t the way we like it? Do we accept that life requires effort? Do we accept that life itself isn’t perfect?

Acceptance is a core Pisces ‘tool,’ if you will. And in accepting our feelings, whatever they may be about any given thing, the not running away from those feelings is Pisces Step One. Pisces Step Two is separating reality from the fantasy. And how do we define ‘fantasy’ in this case?  It could be a daydream. Or a wish. Or a sexual fantasy. Or entertainment as a fantasy distraction. There are romantic fantasies and fantasies of success.

Fantasies are how we try out ideas we might like…and very much not like. The great argument out there about whether films or video games teach violence or sexuality is part of this discussion. For some people, they’re a way to try things out and decide that’s not for you. For some, they become an enticement, an invitation to substitute the ‘fantasy’ for reality.

That’s the problem. What the video game or movie industry has to say about it? That’s business. For the same entertainment giants who will ballyhoo their success with audiences to turn around and then say they have no ‘effect’ or ‘influence’ on their audiences is silly. I’m a second-generation entertainment person and I know why such companies do what they do, but it is a little silly.

Except for one thing: Hollywood (et al) is all about the business of fantasy. At some level, every form of entertainment is about projecting some image which you get swept away by. That’s fantasy. If you think the movie business is ‘glamorous,’ you think that because Hollywood has invested billions in creating that fantasy image. You may think the Academy Awards are all about glamor or popularity when they’re actually craft awards (which is why they often go in directions the public is outraged by!)

A photograph of Fomalhaut which shows the star's surrounding dust ring

(photo credit: Hubble, NASA-ESA-JPL, ALMA, University of Florida, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, April 2012)

As someone who has worked on films, trust me – there is nothing glamorous about getting up and going to work at 4:30 in the morning. There is nothing glamorous about working 14-16 hour days and 6-day weeks for months on end without a single two-day break. There’s nothing glamorous about working with a bunch of sweaty, dirty, tired, grouchy people in a run-down building where there isn’t even any air conditioning for ten and twelve hours a day when it’s 110 degrees outside.

And music isn’t any better. I’ve worked in music too. It’s a tough, tough business. There’s a reason so many people in entertainment get into drink and drugs. There’s a reason for all the broken marriages. But while the reality of that goes on, these industries also wear a veil of Neptunian imagery which people buy into…why?
Because they want to. Because it feels good. And that’s the ‘trick’ of Neptune. Hopes and dreams are wonderful. But when hope becomes expectation, or when we think the dream is the reality, that becomes a corruption.

Yes, all businesses have their corrupt corners – that’s business. But what I’m talking about here is our willingness to corrupt our own definition of reality.

That’s what Neptune/Fomalhaut is all about. When our ability to have a real life in reality becomes corrupted by some ‘vision’ or hope or dream, where we put up walls in our lives or in our heads or hearts against accepting the whole reality and nothing but the reality as reality (to borrow liberally from a well-known phrase), Neptune’s conjuncting Fomalhaut represents a period during which situations and people and life in general will set about dissolving those walls. And showing up our mistakes. And revealing the actual facts – sometimes not so gently.

The more removed we are from that reality…or from the understanding that reality is not just about us but universal, the more challenging the Pisces lesson is.

Another important point. Anyone born during these years is going to have Neptune conjunct Fomalhaut in their natal chart. And that means in their life, for a lifetime. Depending on other factors in the chart, this may suggest that child is someone capable of great discoveries. Or someone who will go on to make wonderful contributions to society.

Then again, it could describe someone who is constantly bewildered or disappointed by life. Or someone who tries to escape life itself, heaven forbid!

As soon as I say that, I know that any caring parent of such a child will want to try and shield them from every and any difficulty. But…wait! Is that good? Or will your shielding them instill a lack of reality about how life really works which will then become a difficulty for that child as they grow up?

Knowing the difference between your Neptune and that of your child – as a parent – is really important, especially as we go through this Neptune-Fomalhaut period (or should your child be born with Neptune conjunct Fomalhaut).

So a few words on that: are there books to cover this issue in particular? No, not that I’ve ever seen. There is a book called Planets in Youth which I believe is written by Robert Hand. But that isn’t going to cover Neptune-Fomalhaut as a combination, nor is it going to help with the issue of how the parent (who has their own Neptune issues) should deal with the child.

My first suggestion is that parents know their own Neptune so they don’t project their own unresolved Neptune (Neptune/Fomalhaut) issues. The better you are at sorting reality from fantasy and useful imagination from over-idealization, the better you will be able to help your child to do the same.

In other words, some of the monsters are not under your child’s bed – they’re in your parental head as indicated by Neptune in your natal chart. That we cannot teach that we do not know, means the parent who hasn’t taken on their own issues is less likely to be fabulous parents to their kids, no matter how much they love them.

Sad but true. Alas!

Life is life.

As an astrologer, I always suggest learning more. You can read here on the blog, or from other blogs or from books. You can attend conferences. You can take astrology classes. Or you can get an astrological consultation.

As pertains to consultations, just remember that accepting what you get told about your Neptune is going to be as hard as whatever your Neptune issues are.

Also – I know astrologers come in every price point and experience range. After over three decades in the metaphysical community I suggest treating your choice of astrologer rather like choosing a neurosurgeon. Who is going to open up your skull and take out your brain tumor? Would you choose someone who doesn’t have an MD?

About…oh, fifteen years ago now (time flies when you’re writing) big astrology groups around the world started certification testing. And while there are still a lot of astrologers who know their stuff but have refused to take the tests (generally on the grounds that tests only give you a basic benchmark and don’t assure an astrologer knows ‘everything’), again…don’t you want to know that your astrologer – like your neurosurgeon – has at least proven they know the basics?

There are a list of astrological organizations in the sidebar. Not everybody belongs to all of them and not everybody who belongs to them has taken or passed certification tests. But since we’re talking about Neptune (the ideal versus the illusion) here and Fomalhaut as a symbol of success which happens only where there is a standard of purity…I’ll suggest that when in doubt, you do some checking.

The Muse of Poetry

by Konstantin Makovsky (1886, oil on canvas)

As for fees, recognize what you’re paying for – and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Most astrologers have set fees for consultations. But the nature of that consultation (what it covers)? That’s probably negotiable. In this case, you might ask the astrologer if they would do a consultation on  Neptune/Fomalhaut – either in your chart, or in your chart as parent plus the chart of your child. Some astrologers will split a consultation between charts. Some won’t. When they won’t, it’s because you’re talking about two entirely different charts they have to do all the delineation of.

And a note on getting chart work on your children:  professional astrologers, tend to follow the ethics set up for medicine or psychology with regards to a child’s age. Example: where I live the age of legal ‘adulthood’ is 18. So if a parent of a 20-year-old comes to me wanting information on their child’s chart, I’m not going to be able to give them that without that child’s express permission since that child is now legally an adult.

If money is no object (or less than a critical concern, let’s put it that way!) the optimal is probably to ask for two consults - one for yourself, and one for your child. And then see if your astrologer will add comments to each consultation referring to the relationship between parent and child.

On that, there are two forms of relationship charts: the Composite and the Davison time/space chart. Having heard all the arguments and on this one, I’m just going to be an astrological stick-in-the-mud (which is hard, seeing as this is all about outer space) and say I don’t like a Composite chart for this particular use. Then again, not all astrologers know how to use Davison charts. So ask. Does your chosen astrologer use Davison charts regularly? If not, talk it through. Davisons can be a little tricky to delineate, seeing as they are not “about” a person, per se.

OKAY! That done, I return you to your regular bloggery programming….

Ideals, idols and idolatry are prime Neptune-Fomalhaut subjects. It’s been interesting (as an astrologer) to have watched the increase in ‘branding’ and ‘celebrities as authorities’ (on whatever) which has been on the rise ever since Neptune entered the zodiacal 4th quadrant back in 1984 or so.

Neptune’s passage through any sign serves to excite the ideal and exacerbate the downfall, which in the 4th quarter ‘worldly’ concept is very much akin to theme underlying George Orwell’s novel ‘1984.’ 

George Orwell press photo in 1933 from the

National Union of Journalists (BNUJ)

Foresight? Maybe. Was Orwell an astrologer? I have no idea. What I do know is that George Orwell was born with an interesting configuration: Sun conjunct Neptune, Haumea, Deucalion, Charybdis and fixed star Mirzam.

 George Orwell

June 25, 1903 - Motihari, India - LMT/-5:39:40

(no time known, horoscope cast as Aries chart)

Sun/Neptune can be complete disillusionment, or tremendous insight. It can represent great inspiration or the ultimate in wet blanketing. Probably in George Orwell’s case we got a bit of both. Deucalion (finding the moral path) and the ‘keep at it/do or die’ quality of Charybdis describes both Orwell’s life and some of the themes in his writing. (Who doesn’t believe art doesn’t imitate life?)

The real ‘trick’ with Orwell’s chart is the addition of Mirzam and Haumea to this mélange. Haumea is a Polynesian goddess who in trying to chase youth (her ideal) does all variety of things…some good and some terrible – but all of which finally get her killed. Considering this is a goddess we’re talking about, immortality is a given, so ‘killed’ becomes more of the concept of killing or having some facet of our life be ‘killed off’…or in Orwell’s case, the sacrifice (killing) of individuality (how very Neptunian a fear is that!).

To all of this we add fixed star Mirzam, a star which is all about the potential which may be glorious…but which then again, may come to nothing.

Taken altogether, these themes are very ‘Orwellian,’ as we now say. Very…“1984.”

As I say that, maybe understanding exactly this point – and that 1984 was when Neptune moved into the zodiacal fourth quadrant is eye-opener for all of us about how ‘prophesies’ or prophetic writings work?

It may be interesting to some in our brave new world of Internet connections, social media and technology that when Neptune traversed fixed star (nebula) Facies in 1988, that year saw the ‘launch’ (if you can call it that) of the very first computer worm – from MIT, of all places. (Apparently MIT giveth and MIT taketh away…)

Then in 1991, when in the disruptive company of ‘let’s change things up here’ Uranus Neptune traversed Capricorn’s famously charismatic fixed star Vega (known for its powers of persuasive or inspiring speech) the Soviet Union dissolved.

In 2005, Neptune moved across the Aquarian cross-quarter point.

This move meant that Neptune had moved from the learning about (or ‘gathering information’) section of the zodiacal 4th quarter into it’s imperative to act section – which is embodied by the second half of Aquarius (by and large societal acts which can be reacted to but not totally controlled) and Pisces. ‘Control’ and the ability to have boundaries on ‘things’ became less sure even as our ability to have control and boundaries in our own lives – thanks to social media and many other factors, also became less “focused.”

So there was more hype, less surety. More assertions based on less (or no) facts and fewer ways to contain those statements, thoughts or acts based on what had been heard.

The Neptunian fog was getting thicker. 

2006 saw a lot of things happen. It was a bad year for airplane crashes. Twitter got launched. There were a lot of wars and a general feeling of elevated threat (i.e., loss of faith in social stability) as even the nations which weren’t fighting were doing a lot of saber rattling. During that year Neptune conjuncted Sualocin, a fixed star currently positioned at 17 Aquarius which I’m thinking we should spend more time discussing. (Yes, I’m thinking again – dangerous, isn’t it?) Sualocin is a star associated with ‘tantalizing mysteries’ and ‘deeper messages’ which need to be ‘teased’ out of the broad stroke information or rhetoric.

One good example of how Sualocin would work is the 2006 ‘demotion’ of Pluto to dwarf planet status. In astronomy, there was a bit of a fluffle. But in astrology, there was frothing – out of which came the decision that no label could change what astrology had already come to understand as the ‘power of Pluto’ in astrological terms.

But did anybody immediately recognize what Pluto’s being “demoted” in astronomical terms - changing its metaphysical meaning not a jot – meant with regards to the importance of other dwarf planets?

No. And as a matter of fact, that’s still being discussed (though everybody seems to be slowly coming around). But it took a while for astrology to ‘tease’ the important reality of other dwarf planet energetics out of the tantalizing debate concerning Pluto’s label.

That was Neptune-Sualocin in conjunction.

Fomalhaut is the next major star on the list. Currently at 5 Pisces, in being conjuncted by Neptune, Deneb’s strong shamanistic qualities, combined with Fomalhaut’s Royal Star message can be seen as the highs and lows of any sort of spiritual or emotional ‘belief’ you may have…or which is embodied by some organization in world society. The upswing in interest and research in the area of  parapsychology (i.e., ghosts), replete with the dotted line which leads us to conversations about parallel dimensions or things like cloning are all in this mix. We can expect great knowledge and great misuse of knowledge now. There will be those who proclaim they know but don’t, and those who know but who don’t see themselves as important in the grand scheme of things.

For individuals…in our everyday lives, it’s probably safe to be entertained by things but not as safe to be swayed entirely by what you hear.

That world economies have been struggling seems very much about Neptune-Fomalhaut. And yes, Neptune-Deneb, too. But it’s not just about the rich getting richer and poor getting poorer – it’s about our universal regard about money, earning and loss or ‘being entitled’ to anything means. In Piscean and Neptunian terms, sometimes loss is about teaching us what really matters.

As Neptune moves across Fomalhaut, it seems likely that we will see many financial ills shown up – both at the ‘wanting’ end and at the end populated by that group known colloquially as “the have’s” There’s likely to be an exaggerated flare-up of ‘stuff-ism’ and other forms of flagrant non-necessity, at the same time as we are likely to hear of things toxic and actual toxins, human need and human charity and kindness.

Seeing that Pisces is also the sign of royalties, annuities, pensions and old age finances, Neptune-Fomalhaut is highly likely to show up great strengths and weaknesses in the structure of these financial instruments and systems.

We’re also very apt to get hyped and lied to about them. 

Considering Pisces is the sign of sexual fantasies (as opposed to physical sexuality, which is Scorpio) we are likely to hear from everyone who is anyone in these kinds of conversations: medicine, religions, those who stand for abstinence, those who believe in polygamy and those who think sex is only about procreation - and what that means in terms of real life and human realities, as opposed to philosophy, spirituality or theory.

We’re likely to hear a lot about those who are all for sex of various kinds, right out past kinky into deviant. We’re likely to hear a lot about sexual psychology and the psychology of sexuality – the good and bad and speculative of it.

As Neptune’s movements move past Fomalhaut and center more on Deneb, certain convictions will come into question. ‘Being sure’ of something which you can’t prove may become less valuable than something less exciting but more functional, more…realistic.

In short, by the time this is all over we may learn to treat ourselves with more humanity – and therefore become more able to bear being more human in this world, and with each other.

Then again, instead of accepting and working through the lumps in life’s oatmeal, we may just ignore all the creaking and groaning until the roof falls in.

Reality occurs to each of us in our own way. That’s Neptune too, especially in the sense that at some point each one of us has to realize that individuality includes the right to be wrong. Yes, even at cost – and to think that you can ‘fix’ or love someone out of their ignorance or denial is a form of denial on our own part. 
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Mercury in Pisces: From Sloppy to Sublime

 Mercury, holding the caduceus

from a mural unearthed in Pompeii

Maybe you’ve heard that Mercury “isn’t good” in Pisces? Au contraire, my pseudo-judgmental friend!

Mercury in Pisces can be brilliant. Yes, it may not punctuate every sentence like a grammar Nazi. Yes, Mercury in Pisces is not generally what you would look for in someone you want monitoring your ‘clean room’ at a computer chip production facility.

But when you want an idea? When you want a gleeful thought? When you want a stylistic facility with words? Then Mercury in Pisces can be just the very thing.

So where did that nasty reputation come from? Oh where, you ask?

Take it from me…it’s a polarity thing.

Signs come in pairs. We like to think of them as single colorations, but they aren’t. They’re more like teeter totters. When sign pairs are in balance, both precepts – in this case, precision and creativity – are in balance. When we have a planet sitting in a sign natally, that ‘tips’ the balance to one side, which is why we get the distinct positives from that placement as well as the ‘overactive’ negatives.

Similarly, when a planet passes through a sign, that ‘activates’ the polarity question.

 The Pisces/Virgo polarity as pictured on a 'natural' zodiac wheel

(i.e., ths signs placed as they fall in 'natural' order - starting

with Aries and ending with Pisces - around a horoscope wheel).

Here we have Pisces as the sign of feeling our feelings…through which (hopefully) we come to not feel all alone because we realize our feelings aren’t unusual and the value of sharing our feelings – good and sad – with others. It’s the commonalty of the human experience Pisces drives to achieve, as do all signs. 

In Pisces we just do it through our feeling nature.

At the other end of this polarity we have Virgo. Virgo the very precise, Virgo the detail oriented, Virgo the wholesome, clean, earthy and earthly. Virgo seeks to make a better world through everyone doing things knowingly and “cleanly” (in every sense of that word!)

Mercury being a planet all about mentality, we now get to learn some about the pluses and minuses of our feeling, communal, creative and inspiring nature.

And yes, from February 21st at 10:54pm when Mercury enters Pisces until March 9th when it moves on into Aries, we will also be prone to more daydreaming and the 'gist’ of the thing…with maybe a little less jumping to the exactitudes and nuts and bolts and all that.

So if you’re looking to tap into your creative side, this is a good time to start. If you’re looking to be precise, maybe this isn’t your moment. 

Except…. 

I have a good friend who (bless her heart!) is in her early 30’s who has just taken on getting a college degree. Apart from what I take to be a general anxiety about ‘doing college,’ in particular she’s not excited about algebra. Really? When am I ever going to use this (blank – blank – blank – blank) stuff in real life? 

Being of the opinion that there are real world uses for algebraic theory, I replied to her petite social network rant with the comment algebra is a way of thinking. Most of math is. And while it’s not precisely emotional (an idea which would probably be well attested to by the countless geeks who have emotions certainly…but who are not particularly good with emotionalism)…algebra is a way of thinking. 

In other words, the idea of how to think which algebra (and most higher math) asks one to indulge in is what gets you to the precise way to do the precision calculation.

The difference between this higher math – and all the magical sciences which lie beyond higher math’s door (yes, we know which side of this argument I’m on…) physics, astrophysics and even metaphysics – when treated as a science – it’s all about being able to go with the idea of the thing, then the ‘how to do.’

In other words, it’s deciding what you want for dinner so you can then look up and follow the recipe, not just focusing on the recipe itself.

Make sense?

The whole of the zodiac goes through this cycle.

Starting in the bottom half of the natural hemisphere we have the ‘me’ part of life’s explorations.

 The zodiac polarities (color coded, even!)

Aries-Taurus-Gemini are our baby steps. What am I? What do I need? What’s that? What do I do next?

Then we have the Cancer-Leo-Virgo phase: what does everyone else like? How do they do things? What do I like? How can I make this work for me? This is the zodiacal equivalent of figuring out and ‘gluing things down’ – the rules of our personal road and thus what we tend to think think life is based on and how things work best.

After that comes the shift from the lower personal and internal to the upper public and external horoscope hemisphere, an arena which starts with the interactive signs. Libra is this is my idea – what’s yours? Then we have Scorpio – everything which evokes an emotional reaction in us. Last is Sagittarius, a sign all about do my ideas work for everyone else? If not, why not? Will my idea get me where I want to go? 

Last comes the public/worldly triad of ‘global’ signs: Capricorn – what we do to achieve and with the power and social status achievement anoints us with…Aquarius – the interactive marketplace of ideas, ideals, acceptance and systemic connectivity…and Pisces, the universality of perceptions and from that, the experience of what we feel – and how we feel about what we feel.

Whatever Sun sign you’re born under, that’s your basic point-of-view consideration on much of life. Doesn’t mean you can’t really love some other Sun sign’s point of view (you probably will!) but of all those ‘other’ POV’s the one you will probably have the most problem with is that which is your polarity.

It polarizes you. It’s not so much about what who they are as what they make you recognize in yourself.

(I know…! Aren’t we just all such endlessly egocentric creatures!?!!)

Being that the ‘global’ signs are opposite (in polarity with) the signs about defining our world, we can all perceive the problem. ‘Big Picture’ people have issues with ‘the little stuff’ and those who think details make the thing work scoff at global sign perspectives as ‘too ambitious’ (Capricorn), ‘too expensive or likely to be rejected’ (Aquarius) or ‘unworkable’ or ‘not reality based’ (Pisces).

Does that make you want to look up a Sun sign or two? Maybe of some politician? A great thinker? Someone else you admire, are in awe of or possibly loathe?

Just looking back at a few recent subjects discussed here at Ye Olde Blog what you may see – and thus why I’m bringing this to your attention - are distinct differences in attitudes and effectiveness which can pretty much be summed up as whether someone born in a sign belonging to one hemisphere appears to understand and be able to grapple with issues belonging to the other!

My friend going back to college is a Cancer. She is plainly struggling with seeing the algebraic ‘Big Picture.’ We see this often times in politics – just to pick out a name here, William Jefferson Clinton (aka Bill) is born on August 19th.

 President Bill Clinton - 1993 Presidential portrait

He’s a Leo. Yet Bill Clinton’s greatest asset may just be his ability to grasp systemic big pictures and communicate that to the greater public in a way which can be understood. You may not like it – but you’ll understand it!

With President Clinton, this is a clear demonstration of his Solar Leo/Aquarius “teeter-totter.” Love him, hate him, think him charming or weird, Bill Clinton has demonstrated his ability to understand economics, for instance. And his ability to manage and marshal the economy and economic system not merely for his own Leo pleasure, but for the sake of the economic system and thus everybody…which in turn of course, won great acclaim for him… 

…Which let’s face it – is everything any Leo is born to love, crave and desire.

Learning to ‘do’ any given sign’s polarity is what completes yours. It’s the balance which fulfills – which allows you to be the person successful in their own right.

That’s a Mercury in Pisces concept. It’s universal. It’s very big picture. It’s about the commonalty of what we all go through in life.

Oh – and while we’re here…despite all the US political hoo-hah about this or that being started under some ‘other’ administrations, metaphysically, an administration is elected in its own time. 

What the fern does that mean? That means that what happens during any given President’s administration, is a metaphysical reflection of that President. And yes, their administration. The reverse would also be true – namely that they get elected because the metaphysics person has a metaphysical portrait (a chart) which is part and parcel of the metaphysical patterns of a given time.

Is that ‘fate’? In metaphysical terms, no – that would be functionality…namely, all things happening when they should. 

Quite a thought, eh? It has even more interesting implications when we consider a country like the UK, which though it changes Parliamentary administrations has had the same Queen for many decades now.

 

 Queen Elizabeth II on a visit to NASA in 2007

photo credit: NASA

Putting on our Mercury in Pisces hats, can we see how the nation has reflected the Queen and the Queen her national situation as years have passed, things been experienced and (hopefully) wisdom gained?

I find that interesting….you?

Okay…well! Now that I’ve either got your teeth on edge as you mutter will she just get ON WITH IT? or set your feet and associated brain cells to squirming…

Mercury enters Pisces in exact conjunction with Chiron, centaur asteroid of needing to learn how to do that you don’t even know enough about to know how to learn.

The simple answer is ‘try.’ Wherever we see Chiron, life becomes trying….and can be improved by trying.

Right behind Mercury (at 29 Aquarius) Mars is barely an ootch ahead of Neptune, still at 28 Aquarius, but soon to complete it’s 8-year transit of that sign and plunge us all into a whole new experience of emotions and nebulous certainties about uncertainties.

Oh yeah…we are SO all going to love that, right?

(Not!)

(At least not for a little while…)

But this Neptune/Mars thing….this is a marker which suggests that the most of us are going to start letting go of what ‘they’ say in favor of thinking for ourselves.

It’s a ‘what do I think?’ moment.

Ahead of Mercury/Chiron, the Sun stands at 2 Pisces and a trio of celestial markers (Fomalhaut, Circe and Amphitrite) are all at 4 Pisces.

 Screen shot snippet of Mercury's entrance into Pisces

 - chart generated by Solar Fire Gold -

Fixed star Fomalhaut promises great success providing our dreams and yearnings are not corrupt, corruptive or corrupted.

Circe is a myth about personal powers + loneliness promoting such terrible yearnings that we will stoop even to doing evil to others in order to try not to hurt in our own hearts, minds or souls.

 'Circe Invidiosa' by John William Waterhouse (1892)

Amphitrite speaks to the wanting to run away from something which once you surrender to it, you’re very happy with.

We thus ‘stand between’ (the Sun) the idea of what we need to do and learn by doing (Chiron) and all our concerns about drinking the metaphysical Kool-Aid.

Or even our own personal Kool-Aid…otherwise known as realizing we’re wrong about something. Oooo, do we all hate that or what?

For those who find this all a bit creepy for their tastes, not to worry! Unless you have a birthday during the next couple of weeks, this period will pass soon enough. If you do have a birthday coming up, welcome to some portion of your mental ministrations for the next solar year!

In saying that however…a few more notes: Mercury will be in Pisces’ first decanate (degrees 0 through 9) from February 21st through the 26th – give or take a time zone. Like all first decan periods, this emphasizes the ‘doing’ and physical aspects and questions.

Mercury will then move on to Pisces’ second decanate (degrees 10 through 19) from the 26th (as above) until March 3rd or 4th - again, depending on where you are. The second decan of any sign being where it manifests emotionally, this would be where thoughts are emotional, things which provoke emotionality occur and when we ‘see’ things (including our feelings!) from a more feeling point of view.

From that March 3 or 4 (depending), Mercury then moves on into Pisces’ third decanate: degrees 20 through 29. This is Pisces’ most worldly, most global realm – where ‘big picture’ concerns are most prevalent, where we are easily daunted if we teeter too far towards ‘Virgo’ definitions and just as easily drawn off track if we allow too much Piscean emotionalism to just simply wash us away.

Being this is Mercury we’re talking about – it’s a good time to think about things. About your life. About your hopes. About your plans. About your mistakes – and forgiving yourself for being human.

Fact is, we all are. Sometimes that’s the hardest thing of all to admit…which may be the biggest mistake of them all.

Mars Enters Sagittarius

 Sunset as seen on by Rover Spirit when sitting

at the edge of Gusev Crater on Mars

photo credit: NASA

When Mars transits through the zodiac's third quarter, we of this world always seem to have a really interesting period. Trying? Heck yes! But also interesting. Exactly what you don't need or aren't expecting - that's what happens.

And why would that be?

That would be because of the signs which compose the makeup of said 3rd quadrant, namely Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius.

Libra is opposite Aries - the sign of 'I am/I do' which so describes Mars in a first person nutshell. And any sign opposite that where a planet acts in sync with its symbolism is the sign where that planet has a problem acting according to its symbolism. Like all other 3rd quadrant signs, Libra emphasizes some sort of joint activity and Mars is personally willful.

Since signs take precedence (sort of like weather does when we've scheduled outdoor activities here on Earth), when in Libra, Mars is constrained. And yet since any symbol is 100% of what it is, to constrain some percentage of Mars energy while/because it's in Libra means that energy 'goes' somewhere other than where it would usually go - into venting the expression of our will, aims or style.

Mars was in Libra between July 29 and September 14. During that time, a lot of energy was either building up or getting displaced - often to our detriment through problematic interactions with others (Libra), through issues having to do with those who embody Libra in our lives (those we are 'married' to by agreement whether they be partners, spouses or such societal entities as doctors, lawyers, civil authorities, etc.) or even through conflict or some incident which creates conflict.

The point is, it was all interactive. And we were either called upon to cooperate...or simply cope with what someone thrust upon us, or our need to get with someone (say a doctor or lawyer) because of some circumstance which had been thrust upon us. The Mars instinct to 'do what I want to do' was, in one way or another, curtailed.

 Mars as photographed from Viking 1 (1980)

Photo credit - NASA/JPL

Then Mars moved on into Scorpio, land of interactive emotionality. Known mostly (or at least greatly) as the signature sign of sexuality, Scorpio is actually all about choosing how we deal with any situation which has, or at least has the potential to arouse deeply ingrained, seemingly instinctive emotions. Though widely thought of as a sign about control, Scorpio isn't really about anyone's ability to control us - it's about our ability to control ourselves.

And being one of the zodiac's 3rd quadrant signs, all things emotionally Scorpio are evoked through interactive means. Thus we tend to want to 'own' the successes and blame others for the problems...which is just another way of not dealing with what we actually do/don't control.

After all, if we get into a situation with someone, by and large we choose/chose to be there (at least as adults). To take responsibility for that choice is a whole emotional process - and very Scorpionic. If and where we aren't good at it also tells us why Scorpio is the sign of psychology - a process of learning why we make  choices and how to deal with the choices we make. That process is sometimes about 'the other,' but only where we have been truly duped or abused. If we merely chose wrong or have tried to do what we want instead of what was required to make the situation work (or workable), that's us.

And while Mars was passing through Scorpio (Between September 14th and October 27/28 (depending on where you are), the emotionally honesty and integrity with which you handle emotional choices and emotionally evocative choices, that pretty much governed not merely your joy or frustration, but also how well things went along.

Put another way, this was a good month and a half for ogres and a highly testing month for those who hold themselves to 'playing fair.' While Mars passes through Scorpio, that tendency to 'want to play it by my rules' is strong. But that doesn't mean it always work; once Mars moves out of Scorpio, the ability to control by force of will passes too.

  Mars' Sagittarius ingress 2010

Seeing that Sagittarius tests functionality in a 'for not just one, but all' venue, when Mars passes through Sagittarius, much of what we chose under Mars-in-Scorpio choices gets looked into, critiqued and corrected.

Sagittarius, sign of justice as a theory asks if what we are doing/have chosen is merely right in our head, or if it also works in the broader scope of perception, operation and social/societal acceptance. The effect of this is that we are now likely to come against whether we acted only in our own regard during the weeks and months passed, of we paid attention to greater needs, ethics and other more "across-the-board" considerations.

With Mars entering Sagittarius in conjunction with Eros, it's likely that a lot of people will be pushing (Mars) very hard for what they want (Eros) or want to be right.

And yet, with this being the moment when Nessus goes direct, is this want merely sheer desire? Or is it some drive more darkly colored by wanting to crush anyone who would dare stand against them, right or wrong, moral or immoral, legal or corrupt?

It well may be. And yet those who maintain their 'cool,' who operate (and/or have operated) from a structurally sound position - those people may well now be able to move against forces ranged against them.

Throughout Mars' transit of Sagittarius the temptation towards outbursts remains. This is a highly energetic combination of sign and symbol, suggesting that the next six weeks or so are going to be anything but tame. Some will wax fanatic now, and some ideas will prove unworkable in current form. Patience may be in short supply but that's pretty much the test now. You won't want to work things through, but that's just the point.

The Mars in Sagittarius question: what are you capable of? Not what can you do, but what should you do? For the next while might may rule the right-of-way, but use of might doesn't make might right...and we all know right from wrong better than ever now, too.