Let’s start with this little cluster in Scorpio, the Black Moon Lilith point and Mars, over which Mercury has just passed; by the time the Sun reaches this area, only the BML point will remain, suggesting that illumination of the meaning hidden in these placements will all be internal, a recognition of our own depths and secrets–but for now we concentrate on the group. BML in Scorpio points to all we’ve truly, deeply buried and all that we vehemently deny; Mars conjoined gives us the energy and the urge to dig. That can be a good thing, if we’re looking for the Truth, but a not-so-good thing if we aim that urge at OPB (Other Peoples’ Business). Mercury recently conjoined BML-Mars implies one of two things: we either ‘get the message’ during our excavations, or that our actions, motivated by what we’ve hidden from ourselves, change the way we’re thinking.

Mercury moves into Sagittarius 28-29 October, and at this point opposes Uranus–brace yourself for the shock, surprise, or revelation–it’s unavoidable and honestly, it looks to me like the level of stress will be so high we’ll barely note this lightning strike amid the high-tension wires. Merc into Sag focuses our minds on ‘the facts’ and their interaction with our philosophy and beliefs, then stations and retrogrades (10 November) with the general mission of causing us to examine what we believe and how that motivates us. During Merc’s retro in Sag we ask ourselves, ‘Are we happy with our actions, our choices, with ‘the facts’ as they exist?’ Overall, experiences over the next couple weeks are best used to be honest with ourselves, to get to the Truth and ‘get right’ with the world–and we’ll need to, considering that retro status and the opposition that will gel around the 31st between Venus in her own sign of Libra and Chiron in Aries.

The opposition pits two kinds of predominant attitudes against each other: those who value others and put others first (sometimes to their own detriment, or even out of selfish reasons, knowing they will receive credit for it), and those who, out of their own woundedness, find they must put themselves first, no matter the effect on others. There’s no side in this equation that’s superior; we all carry a mix of altruistic and Self-oriented intention–it’s just that this opposition requires us to find our dominant viewpoint. Why? Because of the T-square created as the opposing bodies align with Jupiter in Cancer. There’s going to be a lot more of something we care about (in itself this may carry its own connotation of positive or negative–sometimes too much is a kind of curse), and we’ll be challenged to respond to this situation of abundance, or ‘too much’ (and this might be a flood of emotion, considering it’s in Cancer).

There’s been an ongoing Water Grand Trine that sees influences (like fast-moving Moon or Mercury) come and go, but the basic frame has been Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn-Neptune–and we must note Neptune is in the stress-loaded anaretic degree (29) of Pisces. This is the source of the persistent sense of intense emotion and a feeling of being ‘on the verge’ permeating the atmosphere. Knowing the strong possibility that things are not what they seem (Neptune 29 Pisces obscuring Saturn=reality) and that Mars and Jupiter are currently entangled in the previously mentioned scenario, just being aware of the preponderance of illusion (and the potential for deception) should be enough to keep us from assuming what we see is what we get, and so know the score–we don’t–but Merc’s dip into Sag may help, as may the retrograde, which will get our minds out of the way and let our feelings, intuition, and extrasensory perceptions speak.

The Word Image is an owl standing on the shoulder of a fast-traveled highway. The owl is Athena’s animal, a symbol of wisdom and Warrior-courage; a highway is a conduit to take us from one place to another–but we need the right vehicle. To travel a highway on roller skates or a bicycle is to take one’s life in one’s hands, and we’re in an appropriate conveyance (a car). So what smart thing, what knowledge, or courageous action or approach, are we speeding past, in our hurry to get from one point to the next? What wisdom would be accessible to us, if we’d only slow down for a minute?