John Singer Sargent – ‘Val d’Aosta, A Man Fishing’ 1907 {{PD}}
“Silence is a source of greatstrength.” – Lao Tzu
Silence, restraint, and knowing the true worth of our partnerships, status, and the true depth of our ability to influence are paramount today. An attitude of quiet consideration, of circumstances, ourselves, or others, is most effective; if you must communicate, do it in concrete (physical or material) terms–all actual communication will occur this way–all the rest is just words (Saturn parallel Ceres, Venus nov Juno, Merc nov Saturn)
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right-doing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.” ― Rumi
I’m asking you to nurture something without knowing what it is–will you do it? Mary Cassatt ‘The Young Mother (Mother Berthe holding her baby)’ c. 1900 {{PD}}
Though we have the urge and ability to reach out, and we have a clear picture of the past, what we really need to do is think about it. I mean that in the largest sense: sit back, close mouth, ruminate, not on a specific problem or goal, but in a way we might characterize as ‘mindless’–that is, a meditative state that is centered in the mind but not dependent on its functions. We aren’t thinking about anything; and in doing so, we include everything. That allows us to create a fertile mental space for the gestation of ideas–but be prepared, we won’t know just what those are. This requires a sort of faith in the unconscious, or in the Universe, to sift through relevant material and plant the right ‘seed’. We’ll know what it is come 23 March–until then, we trust (Ceres sq Sedna, Vesta contra-parallel Pallas, Mercury trine Jupiter, semi-sq Neptune, trine NN, and meeting the Sun in Inferior Conjunction, Sun and Merc trine Sedna)
Today what’s communicated, through words, pictures, experiences, attitudes, that’s ‘in the air’ or in ‘signs’ of what will be, centers on what we already know instinctively, deep in our bones; it’s the writing on the wall we’ve overlooked, the power situation we’ve ignored, the natural change or progression we’ve pretended wouldn’t be, the difficult healing we’ve desired, the social role or opportunity we’ve been looking for, and it makes very clear where we’re headed, what our future will bring. If those last words about the future bring a chill, then this is your chance to change your final destination–and if these words are exciting for you, then pull out your shiniest dream, because it has a good possibility of becoming your reality (Pluto parallel Ceres, Venus sq Chiron and sxt Zeus, Merc trine Sedna, Sun trine NN and Jupiter, parallel Venus, semi-sq Neptune)
‘Angel of Love’ :Eligiusz Niewiadomski c1900 {{PD}}
Love (or maybe Money or Talents or Values) is where it’s at today; Venus trines Uranus, bringing spontaneous and surprising bursts of beauty, reward, and, let’s be real, unanticipated costs. Sudden expressions of talent can lift the ordinary to exceptional, and we may be challenged to face exactly where our priorities are, as we make freehand changes to what we’re willing to invest in, support, and use our talents and resources on. Venus also parallels Ceres and noviles Mercury-Pallas, steering all our Venusian choices into wisely and practically thought-out expressions of our own power within our rightful realm. Add to this that we have a clear and somehow inspired view of the world (Sun nov Saturn) that is informed by our deepest instincts (Vesta semi-sq Sedna) and for many reasons, this could be an extraordinary day.
Now that you’ve had time to vote in the poll of the 7th on Mars’ entry into Scorpio, I’m happy to report that as of this writing less than 2 percent of you anticipate revenge as a motivating force (for yourself or others) during the period, and absolutely no one thinks they’ll be dragged to hell and back–so, that’s good news!
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Gianfranco Campestrini ‘Le ginestre (Verso il mare)’ 1968 Source/Photographer Artgate Fondazione Cariplo e Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
It’s all about the direction we’re headed today, and that encompasses two areas: how much our personal power is able to shape our Path in the present, and how well we’ve stuck with our standards in the past. With the former, we must adjust our expression and the territory we consider our own, likely because relationships and/ or finances require we so so, and this conveniently shapes our life direction; with the latter, if we’ve been faithful to our values in the past we will be in a good position to think creatively, simply because we won’t be burdened with trying to clean up messes we made yesterday. We can adjust our power expression, responsive to the interaction or cost/ earnings challenges presented, but if we’ve betrayed our own standards in the past, there may be nothing we can do but face the problems that have arisen from our transgressions, and deal with them. Definitely not the worst thing that could happen, but it would be nice to head into the future with a clean psychic slate; the sooner we handle problems, the sooner we can tap into the creative mental flow that’s available today, but proceed with caution: inspiration and ideas are out there, but implementing them should wait until Merc turns around the 25th (Ceres qnx NN, Vesta parallel SN, Venus parallel Pluto and sxt Black Moon Lilith, Merc nov Neptune and semi-sq Saturn)
Most of the influences out there today are centered on Power (and secondarily, on how that settles out in relationships or affects finances or the asset picture), and Pluto square Black Moon Lilith epitomizes the best and worst of it. The issues will rest on (but this will not always be obvious) all those power expressions we have ignored from others, denied in ourselves, or that are made but don’t suit us, and must be changed, whether that’s to curb our own power statements or to get out from under those of others. Whatever’s been tamped down, put aside, overlooked (whether that’s out of fear, diplomacy–I’m looking at you, Libra–or indifference under less stressful times) will be excavated–and the square promises the unearthing comes under conditions of conflict or duress. The buried rage, the need to change things, the need to show our own significance, will not let those matters that under better circumstances we would continue to ignore or deny continue undisturbed. For most of us, this will involve mates, partnerships, a situation involving aesthetic expression, or something where we must cooperate with or work in concert with others (BML in Libra)–or it may be seated in matters of the natal House where BML is currently transiting. It’s just that BML has gotten herself into a hard relationship with Pluto, and the whole thing can’t be put aside or brushed off.
There are other power situations brewing in other areas, and the Pluto-BML situation may bleed into those; personal power expression and the scope of our sphere, our power ‘territory’, may need adjustment within the social sphere or in order to take advantage of current opportunities, and times past when we’ve found ourselves empowered may contribute to the need for a present-day, reality-oriented power-remaking (Jupiter qnx Ceres, Juno sesq SN). We do have some mojo working for us, though, specifically in that what we choose to do, or the actions we take, will do what they need to do to smooth things over and take us forward (Venus nov Mars, Mars nov NN)–and we don’t need more than that luck or facility or magic touch to soothe and make something positive out of all that upset.
The 9th makes it easy to profit from efforts, take the opportunity, or do the rewarding thing; there’s a Willingness and enthusiasm provided by the still-conjoined Venus-Saturn in Fiery Sagittarius that is upped exponentially by the fact that they’re parallel, as well, and Mars novile Jupiter doubles down, making every gesture big and every action fortuitous. That’s a nice setting for the New Moon in Capricorn, which falls at 19 Cap 13 at 5:30 PST. We have to give it some generous orbs to make real contact at all, but that’s acceptable when it’s consistent; with nothing closer than the square from Zeus with a 57 minute difference, we can afford to loosen our parameters. The entire reason to look at the New Moon aspects in the first place is to impart meaning to the event; here we see the square to Zeus is actually part of a Cardinal Grand Cross with Earth and Uranus in the other arms, and there is also a sextile to Chiron and the NM is part of a loose Earth Grand Trine, with wide conjunction to Pallas and trines to Sedna and Jupiter-NN. Keeping in mind that major leeway for a Sun-Moon meeting is in order, we also have the NM conjoined Pluto, albeit well past exact.
The New Moon offers us a couple of scenarios; how it affects each individual is likely dependent on how the event hooks into the natal chart. No matter what, the New Moon itself is conjoined both Pluto and Pallas, with the implication potentially being that what has its origins here (in matters of the natal House where it falls) must move us from a destructive or power-focused approach to one that is more oriented toward skill acquisition or use and to what’s practical and wise–that is, moving from a Pluto viewpoint to a Pallas one. And this is what we carry into both the Grand Cross and the Grand Trine, the need to move forward, refine, draw back from a sheer need to control or change to one that seeks to change through application, of what we know, and what we know to be right. In the Grand Cross this arrives through a moment or event of tension, conflict, or confrontation, and the demands of the group or our own demands to be unique (Uranus) clash with our ambitions and desires (Zeus), and so affect our material situation (Earth), with a solution of sorts found in the ‘new approach’ of the New Moon.
In the Grand Trine the New Moon triggers a chance to harmonize a future-oriented opportunity (Jupiter-NN) that meets a primal and largely unconscious impulse, one that we might call an instinct (Sedna) through the NM event; that is, we are given a beginning that serves both an inner and an outer need, one that allows an interior urge an external outlet or expression. As well, the sextile to Chiron signals that all the events or beginnings that emerge from the New Moon energy offer healing, if we’ll take it.
The Sabian is, ‘A Hidden Choir Is Singing During A Religious Service’. Apparently, what Beethoven said explains something of the Sabian meaning: “Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.” In all the aspect scenarios, this New Moon offers connection, offers its own vibration as a conduit linking something tangible and something intangible. That is the ‘hidden choir’ of the event or beginning, bringing together or stringing a line between the seen and unseen, and doing so in a spiritually advanced way. We see that in, besides the aspect situations, the call to move along the Capricorn (that is, material) spectrum from more brute energies (Pluto) to more refined ones (Pallas). Bringing together a spiritual intention with a material one is what we’re here for–and this New Moon offers us a means to do it.
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Everything gets serious today: we have to ‘get real’ in our assessment and use of assets, talents, and in the true nature of our relationships, and we may have to cut costs, restrain spending or assertiveness, or repress our feelings. Discipline may itself be beautiful, or may be the hallmark of all that’s worthy and desirable. Communications will reflect this temporary restraint, and at the same time add to tension, as words aren’t said in some kind of misguided need to retain control or to at least provide oneself with the illusion of it, and what is shared may be clipped, cryptic, or show the bare bones of instruction or facts. We can choose to focus on our sense of hurt, or our potential for healing, but in either case, action will, accidentally or not, cause injury or re-open old wounds, and we’ll find more obstacles to ambitions than stepping stones–but if we can accept that time, Universal laws, rules, and discipline can result, eventually, in a positive outcome, we can make significant progress and perhaps make something truly worthwhile (Mercury retros into Capricorn and sesq Chiron, Venus conjoins Saturn, Jupiter semi-sq Juno, Sun sxt Chiron and sq Zeus)
What’s smart for one person to do, pursue, or be may be decidedly unwise for someone else; giving away a million dollars is one experience for a billionaire and an entirely different one for the individual who has a million dollars plus one. So, context combines with perspective and is leavened with need or goals in determining what’s wise for an individual to do, be, or pursue–and the ability to apply skills, before, during, or after the decision-making may make the difference between momentary success (I want the sensation of flying, so I climb up on the roof and jump) and a more lasting solution with a more favorable outcome (I learn to sky-dive). Though it may seem that wisdom and skills are absolutes, they are relative (and can even be relative to each other–it’s far smarter to send a negotiator who ‘speaks the language’ than it is to simply send someone intelligent), and it’s the scope and contours of this relativity we must keep in mind when assessing Pallas.
Maximilian Liebenwein ‘Pallas Athene’ 1906 {{PD}}
The Warrior Woman representing both wisdom and skills harmonizes in an Earth Grand Trine with Sedna and the North Node-Jupiter=the smart thing is to find a balance among instincts, skills, and the desired life direction within the social sphere, as achieving synergy among these will allow for exponential growth, the element of ‘luck’, MORE, or however you wish to term opportunity for enhancement of the smart choice–that is, taking the opportunity that both serves the natural, internal need and the need found within the social order. It could mean finding your ‘place’ or role or purpose, at least temporarily.
Franz von Stuck ‘Pallas Athene’ 1898 {{PD}} Notice the similarity to Klimt’s work, especially the breastplate–they were painted in the same year.
The key to this empowerment will be a willingness to adjust attitudes toward what we normally hold sacred (and in holding it sacred, we don’t make fresh observations or question priorities, which is what we’ll need to do–Vesta qnx Juno); the temptation that could scuttle our efforts will be to rebel, to do something just to be different, to insist on pure originality, to require academic back-up, justification, or support, or to simply act erratically, and so present, if not a danger, then an element of unreliability within that social order wherein we’re hoping to succeed (Sun sq Uranus). Find ‘right relationship’ among what’s personally wise and practical for you (that is, best use of skills), the needs of the social order, and the needs of the instinctive Beingness–and you could have a very good day indeed.
Don’t forget to vote in our Mars in Scorpio poll, below–
And here is Carl Hagenbeck, who had Louis Corinth paint his portrait with a walrus named Pallas. I don’t get the connection 🙂 Maybe they’re just friends?
Corinth 1898 {{PD}}
If the January 3rd poll is any indication, Pluto is a strong influence in the natal chart of many of my readers. Not a surprise to me, really; with Venus in Scorpio square Pluto, I see the beauty in the Plutonian way, and that probably helps make Plutonians feel a little less like the bull in the china shop (a symbol so resonant of Scorpio-out-of-water, as its opposite number, Taurus). And now on to Mars, lately arrived in Scorpio. Transits set a kind of energy tone; the real effects come from contact to the natal placements, but we can’t discount the way the sign is emphasized as we run into others ‘having a transit’, or the way the sign’s influence shows through, in this case, moments of choice, action, effort, and anger, all Mars.
‘Jump’ Gemälde Zyklu Adam Marian Pete Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
If today were a swiftly moving, bracingly cold river, the best thing we could do is plunge right in without hesitation–heck, without too much thought at all–especially in terms of what we do and what we choose (NN trine Sedna, Mars nov Saturn). Merc’s already retro, and typically that brings a lack of surety (or maybe reliability) to the thought processes, and this is doubly so when Mercury retrogrades in an Air sign, as it has done this time in Aquarius. We may not be able to connect yet with the old retro reliables, Venus and the Moon, so that we may feel our way through what we would normally meet with the mind, though what we receive through the senses and sensation can carry a kind of wisdom of its own (Venus semi-sq Pallas); and we may be far too easily mislead by appearances, mirages, or plain old lies (Neptune trine Juno) when it comes to our province, our rights, and our status and its privileges. That leaves us to rely on instinct, on impulse, to trust that somewhere in our store of knowledge or reflex lies the appropriate response–so jump in, the water’s just fine!
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Julie Demboski's ASTROLOGY 
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