Category Archives: astrology

Saturn In Pisces: Nailing Down the Dream

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‘Clouds in Finland’ By Konrad Krzyżanowski 1908 {{PD}}

Dreams get a roughly two and a half year long reality check, with Saturn, the planet of materiality and the passage of time, in Pisces, the sign of the ideal, the imagined, the ephemeral, the possible. We’ll see what dreams we can make our reality, and more importantly, how to bring them about, as Saturn offers organization, patience, and even some necessary compartmentalization, to the land of the creative and the hoped for. Our generative urges demand concrete forms, or the kind of realization that makes them tangible to others, while our ideals are measured, whether we intend to do any measuring or not, against what we’ve actually created in our lives. I don’t need to lecture you on how this is actually a gift, to be able to see our progress in an objective light–though at first it may make us rail against all the ways we’ve been prevented from moving forward, may depress us as we grasp just where we are, or inspire us in ways we hadn’t anticipated.

Saturn in Pisces may also bring an end to things that have drained us, as we dreamed and maybe held off living in the hope that the dream would rescue or remake, or if we mistook a fantasy for something sustaining, nourishing. This may feel like a loss, but it’s really an ending that’s gifting your own energy back to you. Taking responsibility for our own powerful creative force will be a prime requirement during this period, and we do so with the caveat that we must use Self-discipline, boundaries, limits, rules, logic, and stay connected to reality, in order to succeed.

If Saturn is moving through the bottom half of your flat chart (1st-6th Houses), you are in a period of development; don’t expect to easily go public with your efforts at this time–to the outside world, it may appear as if you are still ‘growing’ in that area. If Saturn is in the upper half of your flat chart (7th-12th), then what you do will be seen, and you’ll be judged on what shows. That means the whole thing has the tone of an audition, or something where you must prove yourself–so make sure you put forward your best.

Saturn was last in Pisces roughly early 1994-early 1996. If you’re old enough to remember that time, review it, because it’s not uncommon for the same challenges, issues, or concerns to come forward again–sometimes dressed up differently (sometime even unrecognizably, at first), but the underlying matter is essentially the same. And if you recall early 1964-early 1967, take a look at what was going on for you then, too. We can learn a great deal from the patterns the planets present us, because we’ll be acting within and reacting to those same energies on a periodic basis–and how better to get perspective on our own responses?

This isn’t just a period of personal development, though. We can expect to become familiar with what I’d like to call the Rules of the Unreal: we’ll learn to gauge how much and what kind of effort it takes to bridge (and so affect) factors in our agreed-upon reality with those of our Collective agreed-upon spirituality, which naturally will include cultural and Nature-based collective events. Look at your 12th House, natally and particularly what may be transiting through it during Saturn in Pisces, for hints as to what your role might be, or what mass experience you might be caught up in. This is manifestation as a species–but as with any big occurrence, these events and trends will impact each individual in their own, unique ways.

The House Saturn is transiting is always a place where we’re meeting matters of Self-discipline, restrictions, and costs head-on; the House in the natal chart that holds Pisces is the House where we are most likely to ‘float’, become unconnected to reality, to dream and match those dreams to our ideals, and to attempt, in the areas described by the House, to express our creative nature. Now that the two are together, it can at times be a recipe for our most inappropriate efforts toward Self-expression, whether that’s in our own particular brand of bucking the rules or in our attempt to create without a full understanding of the reality we’re trying to mold. There may be an element of sacrifice called for, specific to each natal body contacted and the aspect made by Saturn as it transits the sign. Pisces inspires us to a world without limits; Saturn tells us just exactly what the price of the world will be.

Full Moon 7 March 2023 We’re Not in Oz Anymore

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Evolution of a Tornado.jpg
This image is created from eight images shot in two sequences as a tornado formed north of Minneola, Kansas on May 24, 2016. This prolific supercell went on to produce at least 12 tornadoes and at times had two and even three tornadoes on the ground at once.

JasonWeingart

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That dynamic of Earth and Moon in Virgo–framing emotional and material matters as practically-oriented, accountable, detail-aware, all with an eye to what will be produced (the harvest)–opposed the Sun in Pisces–the illumination of the creative, the ideals, of delusions and deceptions, of inspirations and dreams–is always one of learning how the two energies can be woven together, to support each other in ways that maximize their positive qualities. It takes organization, method, and attention to detail to successfully create, just as it takes an ideal against which to measure what one has built. The two ends of this axis, just like every other cross-pairing in the horoscope, at best work together to make a whole larger than the sum of their parts–or butt heads endlessly, as the critic and the dreamer find it impossible to connect.

This Full Moon, perfecting at 4:40 Am PST 7 March at 16 Virgo 40, enters into this necessary dialogue between the energies of the two ends of the axis obliquely, largely through a set of quincunxes to the Moon-Earth combo. In this instance I’d stretch the quincunx to about 3.5 degrees either side of exact, for the simple reason that the cluster of energies are themselves conjoined; it’s like the energies ricochet off one another, and in their blending then relate, more or less, to the Lunar event.

We’re counting Jupiter, Chiron, and Venus, all in Aries, as the pivotal players at this point. Those Virgoan Lunar energies funnel down to material matters (Earth) by what needs adjustment, what cries out for modification, what requires change by the fact of the friction the two ends of the aspect are creating. So, we see a Self or action-orientation (Aries) of the emotions (Moon) in areas of relationship or finances (Venus), in our response to wounds, especially long-standing ones (Chiron), and in both our place in the social arena and our attempts to exploit opportunity or expand our world (Jupiter). This can bring realization or the coalescing of a picture that’s been gathering for some time, one focused on who we are and how we feel about that image/ role in one or more of the aforementioned categories.

The Lunar energy is one that examines, and possibly critiques, these identity functions/ roles, but something we’ll need to remember is that the picture presented is an interpretation run through our emotional lens. Yes, we’ll be perusing material circumstances as ‘evidence’, but the reality is that what we see is derived from feelings, from our most vulnerable reactions to things, and not from any objective scenario. If we can remember that what we’re seeing is our own reaction to things that have made us feel very sensitive, to matters where we feel nakedly vulnerable, then we have a chance of gaining some perspective on ourselves, by looking carefully at what kind of reaction we’re having, or what interpretation we’re arriving at.

It’s no accident that the areas quincunx the Moon are some of the areas where we feel most exposed as individuals. The tender connections among our Self-esteem, our feelings, and our relationships (Venus–and don’t underestimate the impact finances can have on how we see and assess ourselves, either), our childhood wounds we still carry and often respond automatically to (Chiron), and the place we believe we fall in the ‘pecking order’ of life (Jupiter). All these are hyper-sensitive, and will be triggered, through some discomfort that comes forward, at the time of the Full Moon. These tornadoes, big or small, will lift us out of the world as we’ve seen it, distorted by our imaginings, and set us down somewhere solid, that we need to assess–all we’ll know for sure is that we’re not in Oz, anymore–but where will we be?

The trine from Uranus in Taurus to Moon-Earth, and a novile of the Full Moon to the Black Moon Lilith point, may explain things in a little more detail (something this Moon may demand!) Uranus suggests that either approaching things as an individual, solely responsible for oneself, or as part of a group, one of which you are actively a member, may be the best way to go–though only you will know which offers you better support. There is also the way Uranus might simply ‘spring’ our feelings on us–we may be going along, thinking we don’t care much one way or the other–then bam! The novile implies that Lunar events (which we might even classify as Lunar feelings) offer a way of uncovering what’s been ignored, denied, or hidden, or that has enraged us even as we’ve refused to respond, and that this is, in some way, genius, either in the brilliance of what it allows us to see, or in supplying a smart way to handle things that’s beyond what we might’ve come up with on our own.

This Full Moon, through the discomfort and gentle discord it engenders, lifts us out of some illusory way we’ve been existing, and takes us to a spot where we are better able to see ourselves clearly, to see what function (Virgo) we actually have, and what ways we actually serve (also Virgo). The Full Moon Sabian is, ‘A Volcanic Eruption’. So, upheaval, a combination of the Earth of Virgo and the flowing quality of Pisces–but we must remember this applies to a highly individual experience (Aries, the Uranus trine)–a Fire one, yes–but a volcano overwhelms, subsumes, and so destroys, while a tornado (my interpretation) can lift one up and put one down just as neatly; though certainly destructive, a tornado transports–and that’s a little more what I see, particularly with the quincunxes. Undoubtedly, some of you will have a fiery episode–this volcano’s for you!

We also look at the Sun for the ‘origin story’: ‘An Easter Parade’. Well, that’s unexpected! Is this image pinpointing a time in the near future, the Full Moon offering a ‘if things keep going as they are’ scenario, or is it more about pride? To be in a parade one literally displays something–a creation, a skill, a belief, an affiliation–they’re proud of, something they want to ‘show off’–perhaps this is pointing us toward Uranus and the uniqueness of each of us that, if it gets out of hand, can undermine precisely the kind of things we cherish most, those Venusian and Jupiterian experiences, as well as our attempts to heal what has been so badly marred (Chiron). This Full Moon requires us to have an experience of leaving one place (an illusory one, or one we no longer see with clarity) behind, and embrace critically where we then find ourselves–and it may be in our most unique qualities (Uranus) and our group and individual identities (Uranus, the Sun, Jupiter) that we’ll find ways to align ourselves with the new ‘territory’ we come to occupy.

Thought Experiment: For Or Against

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‘The Art of Stones’ By Rasheedhrasheed

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 July 2019

What are you, without the things you’re against? We sometimes focus so much on what we reject, hate, despise, that we neglect to define what we’re for, what we want to dedicate our lives to, what we’re striving to achieve. Don’t confuse the ‘wish list’ we put forward as ideal with defining those things we support; what we name as a ‘perfect’ version of ourselves is different (more or less, in most cases) than what we actually spend our time doing, supporting through action, choice, and attention. For instance, we might see ourselves as highly supportive of education in all its forms–but if we’re neither involved in educating others (which requires a certain level of knowledge/ expertise ourselves) or in actively gaining knowledge (as opposed to reinforcing what we already believe/ know), then we aren’t living that concept we see as part of what defines us. And there’s the further temptation to re-frame that as a kind of statement, such as ‘I hate ignorance’–but as we know, hating something we define as the opposite of our ideal doesn’t actually get us any closer to living that ideal, it only sends our energy and attention toward something we’ve already stated we don’t want more of. That’s irony in action.

There are a few places and bodies in the chart that can clue us in to ways we might be prone to mislead ourselves, in terms of aggravating a gulf between who we think we are, and who we are in our interactions with current, three-dimensional reality. First place to look might be the 7th House, the place we are most prone to project the energies it represents. It’s possible to see the negative sides of these in others, and never move on from there, believing, say, that Mercury there gives the experience of others who talk and talk and don’t think, for example, or that Pluto there shows us a darkness in others which we absolutely refuse to see as potentially in ourselves. It’s a matter of ownership: do you see those 7th House energies in all their dimensionality, and accept them as part of yourself? There’s also the possibility that you see the positive qualities of that body but are convinced they belong only to others–Uranus there may seem to grant everyone else freedom that it feels like you’re denied, or Venus there may make you feel like others are beautiful, fortunate, or in some way favored that you can only long to be.

Where Saturn sits, we may have the natural inclination to repress others or judge others, believing it’s the negative qualities of the sign we must rail against–and yet, if we are adequately disciplined and connected to reality ourselves, we are likely to find this judgmental need falling away. We lose the need to judge others (I don’t mean assess, use discernment, or recognize who they are, I mean condemn) when we learn kindness, when we are able to recognize commonalities–and when we can apply that kindness, that realization that we are human, to ourselves.

Neptune is famous for offering up delusions about who we are (especially if connected to the personal planets), but it also tells us what energies align with our genuine ideals, and it points us toward where our creative energy can not just best express, but flourish. Pluto, of course, can frighten, with the glimpse of the darkness it offers, even the threat of our own personal hell, but it can transform us with the way it can offer change, an energy for re-birth and re-making that feels massive and elemental, but that is malleable, when we accept its impact and then strive to shape inevitable change in a desired form.

Chiron, of course, points to the wound, the primal injury that must, if we’re to deal with it successfully, be excavated and recognized, owned and, hopefully, released. Vesta needs thorough examination specifically because it describes what we care about at a Universal, spiritual level; to understand the message of Vesta is to understand, on a most human and individual level, why we are here–or should I say, what we are here to do. As the representative of what we most want to dedicate our life energies to (and this may be literal, in matters described by the sign in which it sits) or symbolic, centering on a concept or value, Vesta can offer us a standard against which to measure every choice: does this resonate with how and where I wish to spend my life energy? If so, carry on! And, once Chiron is to some extent explored, Vesta energy can be combined with the gift that inspection of Chiron will illuminate, the highly specialized thing that only you can offer the world in that very precise way–and you end up with a solid recipe for a rewarding and spiritually fulfilling life path.

Unfettered optimism, a refusal to recognize what’s not relevant, working, or for us as individuals, can be as destructive as a negative pall on every subject; neither approach allows for nuance, context, or the particular talents and viewpoint of the individual. It’s in listening to the Universe, to the response we get from it in answer to our actions and thoughts, and in then following the prompts, not of the ego, but of the Soul, that we’re most likely to find that thing, that circumstance, we don’t even know we’re looking for.

New Moon 19 February 2023 Subtleties

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‘Garden of Gethsemane in Fog’
G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection {{PD}}
Taken between 1940 and 1946

It may be the bodies at 29 tense degrees that steal the New Moon thunder, catching that Moon at the midpoint of a Venus-Pluto sextile, and so forming a Finger of God with Earth as apex, and involving Saturn, out-of-sign conjoined the New Moon (but only at 28 degrees, so not at the crisis point, yet). And that’s not to mention (though I am) another Finger, this one with New Moon as apex, base of Black Moon Lilith and Ceres (though we note this config is looser than the other Finger). Other than that, we have the New Moon squine (105 degrees) Mars in Gemini, and the Lunar event semi-square the midpoint of Juno-Chiron–so a great many subtle influences, or even some energies disguised as others, or by others, perhaps pointing up how much influence the sign of the New Moon has over its contacts–and it’s only exaggerated by the presence of Neptune and Venus in the Great Obscurer’s sign of Pisces.

This picture forms on the 19th at 11:06 PM PST, with the Moon meeting the Sun at 1 Pisces 22. There are few contacts made– and that out-of-sign conjunction of the New Moon to the ancient ruler of Aquarius in Aquarius, Saturn, its own story, one that informs the nature of the New Moon obliquely, with Aquarius signaling that our emotional perceptions and intuitions are all reality-based and rational, a triumph of the higher intellect over the imagination, and yet the Moon in Pisces either obscures that reality, is inspired by it, or sees it as ideal when it’s anything but.

With that kind of ‘now you see it, now you see it differently’ energy at work, the Fingers both take on a quality where our intuition and atunement to the nuts and bolts of our world will be vital to actually making use of the energy–that is, if we don’t understand how things are actually working, we may be misled or distracted. The Finger with Venus and Pluto as base originates in crisis or under extreme stress; we may ask what is destroying or altering beyond recognition either our source of Love or source of income/ support/ reward–and could it be the partner or Other themselves that is the agent of change? We can’t know, with Venus in Pisces, and Pluto in Capricorn only tells us that those structures, methods, rules, and frameworks we’ve relied upon will change–but it doesn’t tell us whodunit. Apex Earth in Virgo tells us that accounts are being balanced, the earthly results of our efforts critiqued–but we still don’t know by what hand the balance is delivered.

That revelation may fall to the other Finger. Base of Black Moon Lilith point and Ceres suggests, if I may resort to an old saying, that the chickens are coming home to roost. That’s another version of the Earth in Virgo, paying debts and settling accounts. We see what we have ignored, been in denial of, or what has enraged us meet the forces of Nature, some supreme authority, or our own need to be responsible for ourselves, and out of the blend the New Moon event is crafted–and it has physical/ material world contours that we will recognize intellectually (Saturn in Aquarius) and respond to emotionally (Moon in Pisces). The key is not to let our imaginations or fears run away with us in response to what comes forward–that would not only be pointless, but would lead to us missing the positives (that is, the scale-balancing of Virgo and Ceres in Libra that allows for a re-set in our world). Gratitude for the potential re-birth (Pluto) of some vital life factor (Venus) may not be easy, if the lesson is a difficult one, but will, no matter what, benefit us in the end.

The squine of the New Moon to Mars in Gemini points again to the prominent place of the mind in understanding what’s unfolding, with the aspect appropriate in the way it both makes for discomfort or upset even as it opens the way for new or better–and that will be through our choices (Mars). The semi-square to the Juno-Chiron midpoint is very minor, but emblematic of the entire Lunar happening: it will hurt, it will empower, and out of the struggle a new emotional perception will be born.

The New Moon Sabian is, ‘A Squirrel Hiding From Hunters’. That may be exactly what it feels like: as if we are small, simple Beings faced with much larger, more complex, and more powerful forces in the world. Hiding in this case, rather than being an act of hunkering down, closing our eyes, and hoping for the best, may instead signify what’s smart in any circumstance where we are faced by something overwhelmingly larger than ourselves that could wield life-changing power: we step aside, allow it to proceed, and deal with the changes once the alterations are done. This mirrors the dynamic of Venus-Pluto–and we all know that fighting Pluto isn’t a possibility–but that harnessing, channeling, and accepting what it creates is.

We may be so distracted by this Venus-Pluto thing that we miss the more subtle developments of this New Moon–but that’s okay. We do best to focus on seeing clearly and understanding what’s happening (though the why or who of it can wait), and then processing our emotional responses, most particularly in light of how much closer we are to realizing our ideals (Moon in Pisces).

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Some Thoughts On The Ascendant

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‘There is Light on the Horizon’ By Wilf Perreault 2019 Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by Eisbergsk Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

The Ascendant is the symbolic point of entry for the individual, determined by the place and time of birth, the birth chart laying out the relative positions of the planets and lights as potentially observable (or as falling below the horizon) at that moment, at that spot on Earth (for Northern Hemisphere births, the chart is as if you are standing on the spot of birth, facing South, Southern Hemisphere, facing North). In a way the natal chart is a map of you sliding into the world, meeting the environment, showing your face, literally and figuratively, for the very first time–and the Ascendant describes your relationship to that world in a very specific way: it tells us how the individual, on first impulse, interacts with the world, and how that world receives the individual, ‘reading’ them through the attitudes and behaviors characteristic of the sign, the responses indicated in particular by the aspects the Ascendant makes and by the state of the Ascendant ruler, with these often funneled through matters of the House(s) an entity rules or is placed in.

This situation can make for an interesting paradox, as the individual sees themselves as having one particular interpretation of the sign energies in interaction, while the world may read them as having the same or other sign related qualities (and if the individual has Neptune or Pisces in the 1st, or Pluto in the 7th, they may be unable to avoid being a screen for the projections of others). For example, someone with Aquarius on the Ascendant may see themselves as unique, while others see them as too trendy, or too closely following ‘group-think’, or they see themselves as intellectually-oriented while others see them as so quirky they can’t relate or as erratic thinkers or even as so avant garde they leave others in the dust, or they may see themselves as using pure reason to navigate the world while the world sees someone so cold that the ability to find, much less join, their group is hampered–or the opposite, for all these, is possible–it’s only to point out that there are subtleties to viewpoints so that what one believes they’re conveying can be read in another light by those with whom they interact.

The Ascendant and 1st House also describe one’s survival methods–that is, what you believed the environment demanded from you early in life. In the case of Aquarius, the message may have been you have to be smart to survive–or maybe the world will only value you if you are totally original–or you need a role within the group to survive, and one day, you should lead it–or conversely, you’re only safe when you act as an individual–or even you have to be a rebel to be real. This point is in many ways about being seen, and that means one can feel less than, even invisible, if the Ascendant traits aren’t recognized and in some form validated by the world at large (with the potential that validation may come in negative interpretation of the sign qualities).

The way the Ascendant Self-image is mixed, more or less, with early childhood messages from the surrounding world and the way it can foster fears (because it’s natural to think about what you’re told and automatically draw the conclusion that if you don’t can institute disaster) means that operating mainly from the Ascendant energy can create barriers to operating successfully, and to understanding more completely why we were given those messages, as well as whether they’re still valid today. Often they are not; as adults it’s vital we reassess our Ascendant related persona in light of what behaviors and beliefs we still carry that may not serve our life and current reality. For instance, in our example Aquarian, if the message was you’ve got to be both smart and unique, and this individual has a Leo Sun, we may see someone who works very hard to excel, even to best, others, as if their life depended on it–that’s the ‘you’d better do this or else’ childhood message at work–and in Whole Sign astrology that places the Sun in the 7th, making for a built-in conflict, as the person has the urge to stand out from the crowd (which serves the Ascendant urge) but also the urge to partner, cooperate, connect, or to go before an audience and exchange energy that way–all of which to be successful require at minimum some humility, a willingness to see and regard others and their needs as equal to one’s own, and a non-competitive stance–not the easiest, when one is told that one must excel, because excellence can only be judged in juxtaposition with others.

There’s also the matter of the physical Self-image related to the Ascendant. Though our health largely resides in the 6th, and the Self-image of who we are and what talents we possess is found in the 2nd, the image we have of our own body interacting with the world is described in the 1st/ Ascendant. It’s how we picture ourselves in our own minds; as such, the image we hold may exaggerate some things, minimize or distort others, and is very likely to have a level of acceptability and appeal in our own minds that differs, at least somewhat, from how others see and assess our attractiveness (the world almost always sees us in a more positive light than we see ourselves!) This is one of those areas where it’s best to accentuate what we see as positive, and then go forward–otherwise we can judge and censor ourselves out of any number of paths and opportunities–go after what you want, and let the world respond!

What about other points or bodies found in the 1st? They definitely figure in to the ‘reaching out’ persona, and typically are qualities we will see as great strengths–until we push them too far (it’s inevitable, either by exaggerating their importance within the personality, or by giving them the lead, and so allowing those energies to run our interactions), at which point feedback prompts us to see them as our greatest weaknesses–and neither is precisely accurate. We understand these energies, yet they’re so integral to our ability to relate to the world that they are bound to take on too large a role in interaction–and then comes the swing in the other direction, where we condemn them, see them as liabilities, our Achilles heel. It’s only when we put them in perspective (often possible through funneling their expression through the House(s) they rule) that we find their best expression in the interaction equation–at which point they truly do become great strengths.

Let’s look at how something like the Moon in the 1st would play into personality expression and outreach to the world. Moon here makes one exquisitely sensitive and intuitive, especially in terms of allowing the physical reactions to the environment to inform the mind and perceptions–but what happens when one puts one’s feelings first and foremost in interaction with the world? Disaster, that’s what, as there are many situations in life that need to be met first with reason, situational awareness, and a decided lack of emotional response, required to assess reality in the first place. Yes, the feeling state and intuition is highly useful–but can’t always be the first thing exposed. The result is likely to eventually become a volatile, overly sensitive, ‘hurt’ personality that suffers unless met with 100% acceptance and love–and if the interaction ‘feelers’ are out principally for uncritical acceptance, other information won’t have a chance of getting in–with the likely result that feedback is negative, as others find it difficult to deal with what to them is an overly emotional personality.

If we have this 1st House Moon with the previous example of an Aquarian Ascendant, that means Luna rules the 6th, setting up a connection between the health and the emotional state, and offering these possibilities of channeling the sensitivity and intuition into a commitment, duty, obligation, or other work that specifically carries an aura of service. It’s in dedicating the emotional attention to something that takes one outside oneself that the intuitive and emotional nature can truly thrive. If that 1st House Moon were to rule the 9th, for instance, the outlet might be found in sharing knowledge or faith; ruling the 3rd it could be about writing out one’s feelings (anything from a diary to fiction to non-fiction that stirs the emotions), or concern one’s thinking/ ideas, one’s neighborhood (especially the childhood arena, perhaps re-visited), or in communication in general or with siblings in particular. No matter what, there’s a way to channel the energy that gives it grounding and perspective–and that’s what’s important.

And each year, when the Sun crosses your Ascendant, you can feel very vulnerable; there’s a floodlight on you and your interaction with the world, and it can be unnerving (unless you’re one of those people who loves the attention, who feels best when everyone’s eyes are upon them!) I think it’s a kind of animal response, one programmed into (most of) us for safety, and it may prompt us to hide. I suggest another tack, though: work up the nerve to allow scrutiny, and make sure that you’re pushing to the forefront all the things you’re most proud of, happy with, or hoping to connect to others through. You’ll be going into relative obscurity and isolation for the six months the Sun is below the horizon, so allow yourself to be seen–make it a Self-affirming experience. Though this only happens once a year, it’s good to be aware of, for matters of timing, and for awareness of the start of a personal year of your own.

Next up, the New Moon!

Full Moon in Leo 5 February 2023 An Emotional Spotlight

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‘A Ray of Sunlight’ By John White Alexander 1898 {{PD}}

Ah! With the Full Moon in Leo we get a symbolic meeting of the Sun (through rulership) and Moon that suggests the kind of atmosphere where emotions come into their full glory. Maybe it’s no coincidence that this always falls relatively close to Valentine’s Day–or maybe it’s just that this combination offers a glimpse into what we’re putting in an emotional spotlight.

The event comes at 10:27 AM PST at 16 Leo 40. The only major aspect is the Moon-Earth forming a separating square to Uranus in Taurus. That suggests the Lunar culmination brings to light some conflict, difficulty, or stress (maybe related to material matters, intractability of a partner, or issues of security–Taurus) that offers a shock, a surprise, a revelation, or an innovative response–and this brings us to a conclusion, close out, or new understanding of what our feelings really are, and what they’re all about.

Sabian for this Full Moon is, ‘A Volunteer Church Choir Singing Religious Hymns’. Religion suggests an organized approach to faith, while we are told the participants are volunteers, joining voices to let their vision of how the Universe is organized be known and praised–and that requires belief in the unseen or unverifiable, as well as belief that one is perceiving what’s beyond the senses correctly. We always look at the Sun as well for a Full Moon: ‘A Watchdog Stands Guard, Protecting His Master And His Possessions’. Combined with the Full Moon Sabian, this suggests defending what we believe in and see as ours.

If this in combination is the energy of the Full Moon, we’re likely to react automatically and defensively when that Uranian challenge comes along and stirs our emotions; it possibly also stirs our fears of chaos or others moving along into the future without us. We are shocked by something, or shocked by our sudden understanding of something, and our immediate idea is to defend how we see things–but we’ll find our harmony by, rather than barking at what upsets us, singing the praises of what we genuinely accept and believe. Rather than struggle or become a victim of our own reactions, we should focus on the core matters of our faith, whatever those may be.

The fact that the Moon has recently quincunxed/ Earth was recently quincunxed by Venus, current ruler of Uranus, says that we’ve received ‘warnings’ (the quincunxes) in the recent past, gotten glimpses of the relationship issues (and these can be with others, the material world, and/ or with the spiritual) that will come forward–it’s just that at this point they bring the unexpected and seem to come as a shock or to deliver a dose of understanding about something that didn’t seem so clear before–with the challenge to us a call to see ourselves in a new light, especially emotionally.

There’s a minor contact of the Moon-Earth by septile to Ceres, which hints at it all in the end being about Power: who holds it, who exercises it, who oversteps their bounds, who’s responsible for what (and especially for whom). Ceres is also our connection to Nature, and to our own personal sense of authority, the kind that perpetually asks us, Am I truly in charge of myself? It asks us to inspect our choices for the influences, even coercion, of others, and it asks us to be genuinely responsible for everything we do. It also asks us to recognize the existence of powers beyond our control, such as Nature and the passage of Time; there are some things we must accept as out of our control, and so not our responsibility. The septile implies a spiritual tone to all this; we then must look at the Lunar event aware that whatever comes forward is a lesson (though I dislike that word, as we’re learning all the time) in our larger involvement in things. That promises that what occurs mirrors our spiritual state, with others or a situation standing in for the Universe itself. It’s about relationship in its biggest sense, and who we are as an individual (Leo), making our way into the future/ forward with the group (Aquarius).

A Note for Today + Tax Tips!

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Of note today: a precise T-square consisting of Mercury in Capricorn opposed Pallas in Cancer, both squared by Chiron in Aries=we may push boundaries in communications, entertaining unwise options or speaking with an eye to torquing others’ ‘feels’ in order to accomplish short-term goals–but consider how this may wound inadvertently in larger ways. Egos may bruise easily, and the ‘I Am’ may find itself momentarily confused; we and others are all susceptible. Tamp down urges toward insistence and aggression (especially if it’s framed as ‘concern’) and you’ll avoid planting the seeds of serious injury.

And now: Tax tips!

‘Paying the Tax (The Tax Collector)’ By Pieter Brueghel the Younger c1630 {{PD}}

This previously appeared in Eclipse in 2014, now slightly modified to bring it up to date.

We’re coming up on tax time in the US, but these rules apply in any country at any time when paying anything where you could be audited and the tax man could come back for more. These suggestions apply equally to personal taxes and business taxes, and have proven very useful in the real world; for myself, in a business that invites scrutiny (astrology is actually illegal in some parts of the US), I’ve filed using these guidelines for at least 27 years now, and I’ve never been audited or had the return questioned in any way. These suggestions are based on some I first saw in the work of March and McEvers—if you’re not familiar with them and their well-presented work, you might want to be. Their series, ‘The Only Way to . . .’ offers an excellent grounding in a number of Astro-areas.

Timing Is Everything. It seems it’s all in the moment you release the Return; whether dropping it in a mailbox or pushing ‘Send’ on the computer. That’s the point at which you lose control of the numbers, and entrust them to Big Brother. So to that end, you choose a moment during the Moon’s Void of Course period, every two and one half days. This can get tricky, as sometimes the Void is only a few minutes in length, but it’s worth planning ahead for.

The idea is that the Moon symbolizes the forward (linear) movement from one event to the next that is the essence of daily life; it represents time, not in Saturn’s slow, trudging-forward, span-of-eons way, but in the way that nothing sits still, everything is changing perpetually, and the Moon captures that changing nature of life in its swift cycle of waxing and waning. When it’s in the Void, it has made the last major aspect it will make to another body while still in that sign; it leaves the Void when it enters the next sign. In that period between the final aspect and entering a new sign, the Moon is said to carry no energy behind it; events, then, lack that same impetus, trailing off into nothing, coming to nothing, or never getting off the ground in the first place. This is advantageous in paying the tax bill as it would typically be scrutinized for discrepancies and extra due. Offering it in a Void period, though, removes the energy that would ‘cling’, in a psychic sense, to the Return, which should allow it to flow through the system without a hitch, with either payment or refund over in no time. Whenever you want to put something through a system and have it pass through with little problem and without drawing attention, then initiating the journey during the Moon’s Void is the right time.

Stay away from submitting something during a Void when you DO want it to draw attention. Don’t enter a contest, submit a paper or article, or apply for a job or for entrance to a college, or make that ‘first moment’ in the Void for anything else where you want to be seen and heard. No interviews, placing orders, or announcements, either. There’s another condition that applies to the Void, the potential for things not to go as planned. This chiefly applies to gatherings or something actually started during the Void, and it plays off what we anticipate going forward: if we believe we can start the party and it will be just fine, a convivial evening of laughter and warmth, what we may get is a lot of no-shows, a couple of fistfights, or an evening where everyone stands in icy silence with a drink in their hand. The opposite can occur, too: if we think something may be a disaster, we may be pleasantly surprised. Unanticipated outcomes and the unexpected will be drawn into the Void like water down a drain–so be prepared.

Have an excellent weekend! If you’ve written to me lately and I haven’t gotten back to you, please understand that I’m unable to correspond with everyone I’d like to–if I give my time to personal questions, chat, and uninvited queries I have that much less time to work–and right now, for me, it’s all about the work. My apologies to those who’ve been disappointed.

New Moon in Aquarius 21 January 2023 The Prison of the Mind

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A new moon setting over Gåseberg, Lysekil Municipality, Sweden, 2016

Photo courtesy of W.carter

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That’s a little dramatic, isn’t it? Maybe it should be something like, ‘Isolated in (or by) our own minds’, or in its most benign form, ‘Alone with our thoughts’. The Moon in the sign of the intellect is always a little uncomfortable (though more easily tolerated by those who live with a natal meld of Water/ Air or who have the Moon in an Air sign); there’s a quite natural struggle to parse feeling from thinking, and knowing the difference depends almost entirely on how clear we are about our own feelings.

We shouldn’t forget that the ancient ruler of Aquarius is Saturn, suggesting the potential for fear or depression to arise from emotional discomfort. It’s a mistranslation of feeling, the emotions taking a negative form of Aquarian shape, and probably taking a form that distracts you and so prevents you knowing what that true feeling is. That means you miss how you feel about something important, or vital, or simply right in front of you, because the mind is too busy looking out for what you fear will appear, or what you fear will oppress you. It’s a way of protecting yourself from being uncomfortably clear on reality–which says you’re hiding from some facts or situation you desperately need to be aware of.

New Moons are new beginnings, and with this New Moon in Aquarius we can plant a seed of awareness, begin to embrace intellectual understanding of some issue, or lay plans to take a chance, rebel, revolutionize ‘the system’. The NM is widely conjoined Pluto in Capricorn, and opposed the Black Moon Lilith point, suggesting that what we may see is new thought or understanding (NM in AQ) springing from the termination, destruction, or resurgence of a framework, system, or set of standards or rules (PL in CAP). This shift, whether it’s obliteration or a re-birth, allows us to uncover what’s been ignored, denied, or has enraged many in material matters (BML-Earth), and in so acknowledging make the first steps toward true change. We can’t change what we don’t see and admit the existence of; that’s a painful part of the energy of transformation that can then lead to healing.

We might also experience this New Moon as a time to shake things up, to be the rebel–but don’t fool yourself, even if it seems the group is behind you, you’ll end up going it alone–and again, any unusual stir may be camouflaging genuine feeling, re-directing the energy that should go to processing this emotion into a ’cause’ or a sense of righteousness that will totally distract from the actual emotional issue at hand.

There’s also a wide out-of-element trine to Sedna and a sextile to Jupiter-Juno in Aries, both of which suggest, in the most general terms, that efforts must be made to sort instinct from social conditioning, personal autonomy from the need to parent or supervise, and to sort out who holds authority, who’s in charge, in any situation–and this is so even if you’re someone who’s not looking to boss anyone around. The aloneness we may find ourselves trying to go beyond will either be an emotional and mental ‘prison’, tormenting us as we fail to reach others, or can become a chance at quiet introspection, making the mind a meditation chamber instead of a torture one.

Now, that struggle for the Moon in Aquarius in knowing what’s a feeling, what’s a thought, is ongoing, though it becomes the environment for all of us each time Luna passes through the sign. A New Moon here promises us the chance to hold something in the mind in a clear, new light. With the current dearth of New Moon aspects, though, we may feel a potential sense of isolation, even confinement–the ‘prison’ of the title–with no easy means of reaching out to or communing with others–even as those tussles over who holds authority blossom. Growing awareness of the new means we are that much more focused on the fact that we are discovering, learning the facts, on our own, in a way that makes it difficult to share our experience, and so alleviate any unsteadiness or doubt or fear. Awareness of the social sphere (Jupiter) and any power struggles that may come along (Jupiter-Juno) only enhances our sense of separation from others. It’s a wee bit strange, a wee bit uncomfortable, but the process is one that is meant to spark reform and help us learn to trust our own instincts and those things we, deep inside, ‘know but don’t know’ (Sedna).

The Sabian for the New Moon is, ‘An Unexpected Thunderstorm’. There’s Uranus, ruler of Aquarius, in both the unexpected nature of what will occur, and in the symbol of the thunderstorm–so a bit of rough weather, the kind that’s a little dangerous but that energizes, that brings a cleansing, healing rain. No flood here (unless it’s a flash flood, which has a Plutonian nature, of wipeout that leaves nothing behind), as thunderstorms are typically volatile but brief, a discharge of energy that ‘clears the air’–and so this New Moon can be for us.

Mercury & Uranus Direct: No Excuses

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‘Moon Night Thinking’ By Arkhip Kuindzhi, between 1876 and 1890 {{PD}}

I don’t mean to be unkind, but every time I hear someone lament how a retrograde planet is screwing up their lives, I want to scream. Or at least say, That planet represents an energy influence, not an energy directive–how you meet it is how it behaves. By that I mean, if you are open to what that energy is showing you, you can respond appropriately. It’s in resisting, insisting on doing things the way we always have, or in believing events have nothing to tell you that the disturbing results of a retrograde become truly negative. In my view a retrograde isn’t ‘doing things to us’, it’s showing us what might be backward in our own behavior or approach, or what needs attention that we’ve put to the side as not important enough to put our energy into.

Now, you may argue that something like mechanical mess-ups during a Merc retro, for instance, are outside anything we control; but I would argue problems with like items are symbolic of what’s not working in our own choices or actions, in our own ability to process information, or to understand what’s coming at us. Mechanical/ electronic issues can also signal matters of the nervous system/ nerve impulses, intellectual processing/ cognitive ability, lungs, or dissonance between what we have in our minds and what we’re actually communicating. There are myriad ways breakdown of a machine can speak to us of other life areas–we just have to listen in a way that sees everything in our lives as a whole, rather than as unrelated, discrete parts.

Mercury goes direct on the 18th just before 1:12 PM PST at 8 Capricorn 08, with the first two aspects it will perfect after direction a quincunx to stationary direct Mars and a trine to the North Node. Merc in Capricorn seeks solid ground: facts, systems and structures, concrete conditions (which can making thinking far too literal), rules to think by–or perhaps, rules to follow so one doesn’t have to think! The contact to Mars says we start to examine our own choices and actions in real-world terms–we ask ourselves what impact these have had–and we then want to assess, see where we need to adjust either thinking or doing so that things are more in line with what we want (and that may be to make us more comfortable, aligning things with the status quo or with already-in-place structures, with the intent of modifying later–the quincunx). A trine to the North Node says we easily keep our life direction in mind when making modifications to action and thought–so no need to worry that we’ll act against our true direction, or take ourselves off track.

Uranus goes direct on the 22nd, a full day after the New Moon, at 14 Taurus 56 (with the heavies time of turnaround isn’t vital, we just need to know generally when). This happens about 5 hours after being squared by the Moon in Aquarius, suggesting an emotional or intuitive jolt that brings a shift in perspective, probably related to matters of the House in the natal chart Uranus is currently transiting or the House in the natal chart Uranus rules (that’s the one with Aquarius).

Sometimes Uranus is referred to as the ‘higher octave’ of Mercury, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the two directions aren’t all of a piece, involving a lot of rethinking–which may surprise, as we usually come out of a retrograde period all thunk out, so to speak. Expect a surprise or two, and an unusual amount of needed review, especially in areas that seem already firmly established. And remember, you’re in charge of how you respond to these bad boys–direct or retrograde, they don’t run you!

At Long Last: Mars Direct 12 January 2023 + The Green Comet

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‘Donati’s Comet’ By James Poole 1858 {{PD}}

Mars has lingered on the 8th degree of Gemini for about a week and a half before finally shifting apparent motion (on the 12th at 12:57 PM PST)–and then lingers still at that 8th degree for nearly another two weeks after the change in direction. Those with natal placements at 8 degrees of Sagittarius, Pisces, Virgo, and in Gemini will feel both the stationary pressure and the shift to direct more than others, specific to the point or body contacted, with the influence/ experience having a highly Martian quality: circumstances or actions imbued with assertive energy, aggressions from the Self or aimed at the Self by others, the potential for violence or situations, literal or figurative, that call out the Warrior in the individual, or simply difficult choices, of the ‘between the devil and the deep blue sea’ variety. For the rest of us any stationary period makes related circumstances feel cemented in place, as if they will never end, usually related to matters of the House Mars is currently transiting, or the House it rules in the natal chart–which, in the case of Mars, makes it important that we don’t act, react, or choose based on precisely where things are right now–there will be movement, probably sooner than you think.

This retro period has been, by all accounts, filled with upheaval, upset, and every other kind of up, including breaking up, giving up, and coughing up the Truth. Matters of choice or actions taken play out successfully or not along lines relative to how honest we are about culpability, responsibility, and admissions of vulnerability that leave us at the mercy of others. That is, those with a strong sense of Self that holds ego to a minimum have probably fared best during the retro–but in any case, we’ve been shown a little bit of chaos, and been asked (often forced) to respond to it. That kind of in your face drama will be ending, subject to this: on turnaround Mars in Gemini makes a loose quincunx to Mercury in Capricorn, perfecting the 16th-17th with still retro stationing Merc and Mars finally picking up normal direct speed. This puts the spotlight on thought, especially thoughts that question the status quo or current structure, or ideas that attempt to ‘break into’ an exclusionary system.

We also see Mars at stationary direction involved in two configurations. One is a Finger of God with Mars widely sextile Chiron, apex the South Node of the Moon in Scorpio. That suggests a strong potential for both our thinking and our actions to boil up out of our wounds, especially if those hurts echo the darker parts of the past, the ones we might like to forget, or are a little ashamed of. The sense may be that Mars releases us, and we go with it, rather than our realizing that release is something we can enjoy without needing to act out. Bad choices will be prompted by a feeling that we need to make up time, catch up and even the score. Not smart.

The other config is a Fist of God, with Zeus square the Sun and Mars the apex. A Fist takes a tough situation and gives one an out through the apex–but that apex energy doesn’t offer to resolve the situation so much as blow it up. It’s another side to that sense of release, a bit of a warning: if you’re dissatisfied with your current identity/ sense of Self/ direction in life, if ambitions are eating at you, their lack of fulfillment causing you to denigrate or question your worth, then you are potentially vulnerable to making poor choices or acting out. Again, release from the Martian thumb doesn’t mean go wild, responding to your frustrations with ill-considered acts–it means hold off, until thoughts are absolutely clear and aligned with your actual goals–not easy, but certainly more desirable than having to clean up a mess later.

And in comet news, a bright green one, known by the designation C/2022 E3, will be nearest to the Sun on the day Mars goes direct, but will be closest to Earth around the 1st of February, and potentially visible to the naked eye from Sun contact through early February. Sighting in the Northern Hemisphere requires binoculars or a telescope at dawn through most of January, and in the Southern Hemisphere it becomes visible by the same means in February. Read more here–