In astrology and in your life, there are times when it pays to step back from the details and look at the big picture. It would appear now is such a time. It is as though a deck is being shuffled, and a new hand is being dealt. In all probability you felt it begin late last week when something changed in the direction of your life. Now, astrology indicates we are each and all heading into the thick of it.
Paramount in the shuffle are four of the five planets visible to the unaided eye (Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) changing their apparent direction in a period of less than one week, beginning with Mercury’s return to direct motion this coming Friday.
To have four major planets turnabout between Friday and Jupiter’s direct station on March 6 is rare and unusual. Yet, there is more.
The day before Jupiter resumes direct motion, the remaining visible planet (Venus) will change signs. On March 5, Venus will move to a new place in the deck by ending a historic and uninterrupted Capricorn tenure (prolonged by retrograde) that started last year on Nov. 5.
Then, there are the Sun and Moon. Tomorrow, Venus will be temporarily blotted from the sky as the Moon passes directly between Earth and Venus in an event called an occultation — a type of eclipse.
In addition, the Moon is well into a near-monthly series of 12 straight occultations of Saturn which started on Dec. 1 last year. The next lunar occultation of Saturn is timed to take place on the day of the Vernal Equinox (March 20) when the Sun enters Aries for astrology’s ultimate expression of a reshuffling.
If we were living back in the day when the known solar system consisted of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, astrologers would probably be pretty excited by the big picture presented to the unaided eye. Yet there is more than the eye can see.
Starting tomorrow, and before Venus leaves Capricorn on March 5, four minor planets of major import (Chaos, Ceres, Huya and Juno) will either change direction or sign.
Meantime, Uranus and Pluto are emblematic of new era in the making through a continuum of seven exact squares extending over more than three years. Also, Neptune continues plying the waters of Pisces for the first time since Abraham Lincoln was alive, and Chiron’s return to Pisces is symbolically revisiting the 1960s.
Can you see how it is that now is a good time to step back from the details and look at the big picture? If you can, then the next question is what to do with it. That’s where the image of shuffle and deal comes in.
Implied in the shuffle is change, the only certainty in the universe. Within that certainty are the changes you make and those that are dealt to you. The changes you make are under your control. The hand you are dealt must simply be played.
Before you can play a new hand, you must accept what you are dealt. You cannot change the motions of the planets, whether seen or unseen. Once you get past wanting to change the universe, you evaluate your new hand.
A new hand means a new strategy must be formulated. To develop your strategy, it would be a good idea to begin with the four planets that are implicitly paramount in the cosmic shuffle that is playing out in your life.
Two planets (Mercury and Jupiter) are stationing forward. In between the days Mercury and Jupiter resume direct motion, Mars (on March 1) and Saturn (on March 2) initiate apparent reverse motion. In other words, indications are that the shuffle and deal are fair, and that the breaks will even out.
For that reason, you should proceed forward without burdening yourself with the notion that the universe is unfair to you. If you can manage to rise above any perception of being victimized by inequity from above, then you will be in an excellent position to play the hand you are dealt according to the approach implied by astrology of the days and weeks to come.
In the days and weeks leading up to the Vernal Equinox, the astrology implies how both the seen and the unseen are pursuing the same overall pattern. So, know by what you see. Indicated by the lunar occultations of Venus and Saturn is the probability that your emotions may occasionally (but not always) obscure reality. So, don’t deny what’s apparent. Rather leave room in your strategy for how you feel to balance what you see.
Altogether, the big picture of the current and immediately impending astrology implies finding a middle path for dealing with the shuffle and working what you are dealt. A middle path between complacency and extremes or excesses is indicated. You manage complacency by playing the hand you are dealt to the best of your ability, knowing the breaks will even out.
You manage any excesses or extremes by being mindful of the big picture. Regardless of how big the deal being presented for you in the days and weeks to come, remember, it’s almost certainly not the whole game. What you are going through now is important. Indeed, you are important, whether you feel that way or not. However, as big a deal as current events, both personal and political, may seem, this time is just one part of your life. Play it that way and you will have no regrets.
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Len is available for astrology readings. You can contact him at lenwallick [at] gmail [dot] com.
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Strawberry: Thank you! A lot of credit goes to Eric for setting the tone of eschewing the “chicken little” modality. If there is anything that should be preserved about modern astrology, it is the admonition towards personal responsibility that is implied by being part of the Universe rather than being separate from and subject to the vagaries of the Cosmos.
be: Thank you so very much for how you once again combine wisdom with erudition. i love how you invoke the separating Venus-Saturn sextile. i love even more how you interpret the impending second (and ultimately, third) pass of the trans-Neptunian object 19521 Chaos over Venus’ orbital node. Perhaps most of all, your take on the lunar occultations of Saturn is a true gift! What would we do without you?
wandering_yeti: Thank you for your kind appraisal and astute sense of history once again.
aword: Thank you once again for sharing how the transits to your natal chart resound astoundingly with the astrology we all share.
Carrie: As aword mentioned, please don’t fold the hand you have been dealt, and rightfully anticipate the new deal implicitly coming your way soon. Keep an eye out for the days when the Moon makes its next couple monthly passes through Libra for some indications of what options may yet come up for you.
Sarah and Brendan, you are most welcome!
DivaCarla: Thank you for braving the cold to get us that photo! Once again, you provide inspiration for all of us!
Thanks, Len. This feels awesome, in a scary exciting way. In Maine we’ve been blessed with clear skies two mornings in a row. I was able to take pictures of the Moon and Venus conjunction at sunrise today, and popped them onto the Spaceweather gallery: http://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=94773
Shared with love for all of you here!
Thank you, Len. Excellent words for trying times.
Thank you, Len!
Thanks, Len.
I hope this shuffle will clear up an issue that I have been having since Dec. 8th of last year. I was trying to enroll on the healthcare.gov website to purchase insurance from the marketplace. There have been so many bad glitches I am still not enrolled and now my son needs insurance too. I just erased my 8th application yesterday; I was found eligible to enroll but when I tried, I got an error message. At least this time I got to the eligibility part; that took 8 applications to accomplish.
The folks at the marketplace tell me they are working on the website glitches. The Health and Human Services lady (I wrote Kathleen Sebelius about the issues after the fifth application failed and she had a specialist call me to help me) has had one fix implemented but there’s still several more that need to happen before I can actually get the correct eligibility for me and my son (they keep saying he is eligible for medicaid but I have denial letters from medicaid on my desk saying otherwise).
Maybe when Merc goes direct this nightmare will be resolved? My hospital bill for last week’s 24 hr ER stay (and the MRI, EEG, and EKG tests) will be enormous so the HHS lady has said she will get the coverage backdated for me IF I can ever get enrolled.
Between the stress of all that, my Grandmother’s issues, my Dad in the hospital, a miscommunication with my husband, and the sinus infection I got no wonder my brain blipped out last week!
I hope the reshuffle solves a lot of this stuff. I am still sick with bronchitis but on the mend (slowly). Being over 50 means I heal slower than I used to when bronchitis hits me.
Overall, I have a very Full House. But when the occultation of Venus occurs tomorrow on my natal Venus, I’m happy to just KISS and play her as my High Card.
This hand is too rich to fold. Thanks for your guidance, Len.
Yes, thank you Len: no good screaming ‘unfair’! All the direful judgments do is feed the critical voices and sap our energy to feed the demon of hate. There is nowhere the Queen of Heaven isn’t; the best way to piss her off and lock yourself out of her blessings is to withdraw gratitude. This world has a lot of training in how to feed the hate. The descendants of Abraham mastered the fine art of dissing before Remus and Romulus started their version of the Empire rolling. Ah, yes…Buddha brings a batch of fresh air and reminds us to breathe deeply; nothing lasts forever.
Deal me in Len, I’m ready for an all new hand. This offering today has a Venus-Saturn touch; a balanced approach combined with a controlled approach to all this exciting astrology coming up. (By the way, many thanks for the heads up on the Moon-Saturn series of occultations.) Venus WAS sextile Saturn late last night setting the tone for me too; duty mixed with pleasure; appreciation for well-tested routines. . stuff like that.
You know I have a theory about Chaos’ station retrograde and now going direct; it has provided Chaos one more pass over the degree (15 Gemini) where Venus’ rare occultation of the Sun took place in 2012, as if it was making sure that the still-effective Venus-Sun event was well stocked with creative chaos in preparation for whatever our future circumstances would require. Back then while Venus was occulting the Sun, the Moon was occulting Pluto too in one of that long series of events. I’ve not totally pinned down the meaning of her occultations but I like your idea of it as an obscuring of reality (in the case of Saturn) by emotions. Still there is something additional I suspect; maybe a diluting (of stark reality in this case) takes place, or, even as a cloud obscures the Sun or Moon, the Moon might provide a Need much the way a cloud can provide shade or rain or privacy. Saturn can be so dry and cold when experienced in the extreme that maybe the Moon is there to help with the balancing (dry-wet, firm-pliable, structure-nurture).
As for her occultation of Venus tomorrow, well maybe Venus appreciates the Moon’s offer to help carry that heavy Capricorn load after so long in that sign. I know I would! Thanks for your insight and guidance once again Len. We have come to rely on you for that.
be
Len, one of the things I most admire & appreciate about your work is the way you — and everyone at PW — refuse to go all “Chicken Little” on moments like this. So many astrologers would have us hunkering down or wringing our hands in fear, thereby missing out on the incredible potential of these combined shifts.
In humble gratitude for your efforts, I look forward to seeing everything a little bit differently over the coming weeks. You’re the best, Len. <3