Dear Friend and Reader:

Enjoy the day-by-day account of this week’s aspects, written by Planet Waves’ own Genevieve Salerno. We are taking a more open-ended approach to the aspects this week, and I would like to invite you to add your thoughts about what you read — ideas about mythology of the asteroids, your experience of the aspects, and anything you think we may have missed. Comment away…

Yours & truly,

On Tuesday, the Moon enters Leo, the sign most associated with creativity and playfulness and therefore with children or the state of childhood.

20 Monday: Sun sextile Galactic Center. Who you project into the world is the same as how you want the world to see you. Whether or not this is truly what you are made of is a personal decision. As Mars conjoins Chariklo today, the idea of being the supporter or witness to the process of another will come up. This is not so much about the victim as it is about pride. How hard is it to admit when you have been hurt, or to own up to when you hurt others?

21 Tuesday: Last Quarter. Moon enters Leo at 10:35 am EDT. Sun sextile Pluto. Leo is the sign most associated with creativity and playfulness and therefore with children or the state of childhood. The Sun sextile Pluto suggests a coherent understanding of time’s fleeting nature. Locked within the mystery of the child is the idea that the Child is an immortal state, while childhood has a beginning and an end. To understand a statement like that is to understand the transience of time. With Varuna stationing retrograde, Truth takes on more personal attributes.

22 Wednesday: The Sun is in the final degrees of Libra. Mercury trine Chaos. Venus conjoins Hylonome. Whenever the Sun makes an ingress (changes signs) there is a sense that something is coming to a close. It may be reflected by something hapening in your own life, or it may just be a new smell in the air that brings you to the fact that the season is maturing.

With these two planetary aspects occuring today the sense of flying off the handle, or losing control of the situations you are in, can be heightened. However, this is not a good reason to grieve, as Venus’ relationship with Hylonome might suggest. Rather, these powerful emotions are useful in navigating the idea of how much control you have over your circumstances and how much you do not have. It is true that as it grows colder (or warmer depending on your hemisphere), you change your clothes but your body itself stays the same. It might not be a bad idea to consider the parallels between the body in a sweater and the heart in the body.

23 Thursday: Sun enters Scorpio. Moon enters Virgo at 3:40 pm EDT. Juno conjoins Galactic Center. Venus conjoins Psyche. What is equality? What is justice? What is mercy? These are questions to consider whenever Juno and Venus are aspected, especially now that the Sun has crossed into the sign associated with the battlefield and with regenerative waters.

24 Friday: Mars semisquare Pluto; this is the last aspect before the conjunction coming late December. Mercury sextile Ixion. Something is coming up that is completely out of your character. You may get the chance to make some changes in your life, but only if you are ready to deal with the fear and embarrassment of being new in an old scenario. Put another way, the desire to grow and the courage to follow through with your actions is coming up against the tension of change actually happening. You may get the sense that you are flirting with disaster, but is this really the case? Also, Mercury is aspecting Ixion, the symbol of what you are capable of. Seems to me like the Universe is spelling out an oppurtunity for you to grow in a whole new, unexpected, genuine way. Should you take it, or should you risk waiting for a better time?

25 Saturday: Moon enters Libra at 10:47 pm EDT. Venus conjoins Pholus. Chiron stations direct. The Goddess of Affection and Attraction conjoins with the Centaur of “little cause, big effect”. Many times the greatest change you can make is a change of attitude or perspective. Chiron stationing direct in Aquarius addresses the sense of needing to be different in a crowd. Perhaps taking a new way home, or pausing in a natural setting will bring great ideas to your head today.

26 Sunday: Sun semisquare Saturn. Mercury square Jupiter. Pallas stations retrograde. Whenever the Sun makes an aspect to Saturn, the question is about power and limitation. And whenever there is a square in the picture, there is a sense of a locked door with a special combination to unlock it. Today is all about recognizing what your responsibilities are and what they are not. Also, with Jupiter in the picture, there may be a sense that everything is up to you, yet you cannot figure out the answer to the riddle. Do not despair. The good news is that while you are key player in your life, being stumped by the riddle is part of the riddle itself. As my father says, any decision you alone make in the name of what is good for you is the right one.

Dear Friend and Reader:

We are in a week that will prove to be interesting, as the Full Moon crests and Mercury stations direct within 24 hours. Mercury is known for casting a spell of mild to hot chaos during those days six times a year when it changes directions; the Full Moon comes with an emotional peak, and this time around happens to be in Aries conjunct the new planet Eris.

Yours & truly,

Kendall, Illinois. By Danielle Voirin.

13 Monday: Moon enters Aries at 3:07 am EDT, moving into the full phase, ahead of Tuesday afternoon’s exact Full Moon in Aries. Mercury, slow and powerful in the sky right now, is about to station direct Wednesday Today it is semisquare Venus. Pallas trine Eros. Sun square Varuna. Sometimes it happens that the simplest comment can turn an entire project in a different direction. It is important to understand why we keep things back and why we choose to speak out. Mercury semisquare Venus says we need to get underground communications out in to the open. More important than that is understanding the emotional reasons behind why we don’t speak up when we need to; and this can include seeing the emotional costs of silence — and the underlying struggle. Sun square Varuna suggests that the option to be truthful might be hard to make due to the fact that what we know may not fit into the agenda we have signed up for. If this the case, I would ask myself how much more energy I am willing to spend on playing along, and what I’m doing it for.

14 Tuesday: Full Moon in Aries conjunct Eris, with the Moon conjunct Eros. Eris is a new planet larger than Pluto, a bit further out from the Sun. Eros is an asteroid. Eros opposite Eris. The god of eroticism has teamed up with the goddess of discord. This is prime time to be daring, for better or worse. We are seeing how futile a daring rescue of the economic system is proving to be with Mercury retrograde. With the Sun, trine Neptune, harmonizing with the planet of dreams and illusion, it is one of two things: either you are being enveloped by your dreams, or they are coming true and you can feel it. Well, it may feel like some chaos as well, with the energy of the Full Moon at full strength in the midst of the Mercury storm. Expect the unexpected would be an understatement.

15 Wednesday: Moon enters Taurus at 5:31 am EDT. Mercury stations direct just after 4 pm EDT. Vesta square Nessus. Sun opposite 1992 QB1. Vesta and 1992QB1 (Radharani, at Eric’s suggestion) are both planets that involve giving yourself in service to others. Specifically, giving yourself in service of the changes of others. Vesta square Nessus speaks to the difficulties that can arise when your own internal darkness takes over that process of giving. Sun opposing QB1/Radharani implies that there must be some exchange in the relationship.

Continue Reading »

Dear Friend and Reader,

TODAY MERCURY AND THE SUN form their interior conjunction in Libra, which marks the midpoint of the Mercury retrograde — in other words, we’re halfway through with the experience (it goes from Sept. 24 through Oct. 15). Interior conjunction means that the Mercury is between the Earth and the Sun. During the exterior conjunction, which occurs in about two months, the Sun is between Mercury and the Earth (Mercury is direct for this experience).

Jupiter and the Red Spots Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Simon-Miller (Goddard Space Flight Center), I. de Pater, M. Wong (UC Berkeley)

Today’s Sun/Mercury conjunction is distinct because it’s exactly square Jupiter. This adds a sense of things being larger than they are; Jupiter can inflate things mentally or emotionally, and when other planets get mixed up, you need to beware of confusion and keep a handle on what is your own and awareness of what is not your own. The square indicates an internal process of working out, which goes nicely with Mercury retrograde (retrogrades tend to internalize the energy of planets, thwarting expression and enhancing the mental or psychic dimension).

But this internal direction is one that we clearly need to take. Most people are incredibly confused (we wouldn’t need astrology otherwise). What I find interesting is how the presence of Jupiter in Capricorn (a kind of authority figure) shows up and seems to loom over our internal process — and that is often how it is, until we overthrow our parents and our attachment to Big Mama or Big Daddy keeping an eye on us, giving their approval and giving us the feeling that our mistakes are going to be compensated by some other force — one that also restricts freedom. Indeed, much of the creative process involves relating to internal authority, censors, editors, and so forth — and going past its edicts and dictates.

Finally the Moon enters the scene, making a conjunction to Jupiter and squaring Mercury and the Sun. I would say be careful what you talk about today, and why you do it, and with whom. Get to understand your motives, and let them reveal themselves in layers All plans are in motion, anything you were working out over the weekend you are still working out, and though today is clearly a turning point, it is not quite a point of commitment.

Genevieve has interpreted this week’s aspects. I’ll add my comments [in brackets].

Yours & truly,

Eros encourages the dish to run away with the spoon, seen at left. Seriously tho, in ancient Greece, sex and the Gods were depicted on household objects.

6 Monday: Sun squares Jupiter and conjoins Mercury. Mercury squares Jupiter. So to break it down, this means your power of being will come into conflict with expansion, and your methods of communication and craftsmanship will help this along. It might be a day where you find it better to keep under wraps your big ideas about the scheme of things. Or, perhaps it will be a good time to let your outcast-ish self shine through. Either way, today your voice is hooked up to a psychic amplifier. Use it as you will, but be prepared for the response. Psyche enters Sagittarius direct.

7 Tuesday: First quarter Moon. Venus sextiles Saturn. Venus squares Chiron. [The Venus-Chiron square is like a hot night with a lover you don't know that well. It's emotionally intense, you feel all kinds of deep passions, and ultimately you are left alone with your experience.]

The Moon is growing towards full — indeed, a very unusual Full Moon — and because of that, it’s a good time to continue moving those things that will contribute to your personal goals. Use love to support your work today. Remember that everything you do, ideally, is something that you want to be doing. If it’s not, try to figure out why it’s not and why you started doing it in the first place. [Those aspiring to the creative life would do well to remember some advice given to Paul McKenna's design classes at SUNY Buffalo: being an artist means you motivate yourself with creativity no matter what you're doing; that is to say, one use of your creative talent is to help you be creative when it comes to working through otherwise boring projects.]

8 Wednesday: Moon enters Aquarius at 12:03 pm EDT. Juno trine 1992 QB1. Eros conjoins Rhadamanthus. These aspects speak of promises, equality, oaths and the truth as it appears to yourself and those in relationship with you. Much of what we have been taught as correct is no longer right, yet it remains a popular way to steer through our society. Continue Reading »

Dear Friend and Reader

This week’s highlight is the New Moon, which occurred in Libra early this morning, covered in detail in this post. Libra is seeking balance and justice; Mercury retrograde is asking us to look at our relationships with others, and whether they reflect what is truly meaningful to us.

We are all feeling the quiet sense of uncertainty that is in the air, verging on outright fear — but the one reassuring thing is that we’re all in this together. And I think that just below the fear, many people are becoming conscious of their anger.

It’s sure to be an emotion-filled week, with the occultation of Mercury the Moon on Tuesday, and Mars entering Scorpio on Friday. Challenges are sure to result in great personal reward, so it’s necessary to keep moving forward and looking back as little as possible.

All the activity in Libra and Scorpio is surely making some interesting times in personal relationships. If you’re confused, if you’re struggling, if you don’t know what you want, remember, we are all in this together. Very few people do, and many of the ones who seem like they do are faking it.

Happy New Moon, and read below for further details on the week ahead, written by Genevieve Salerno with some editing by me. The aspects were calculated by Tracy Delaney’s ephemeris at Serennu.com and by Raphael’s Ephemeris.

Yours & truly,

29 Monday: New Moon in Libra at 4:12 am EDT. Sun sesquiquadrate Neptune. This is a trigger aspect, but it’s difficult to trigger Neptune. It tends to rise like flood waters that you saw coming months ahead but ignored. Sound familiar? Mercury was (and still is) opposite Eris at the moment of the New Moon. The stuff that you really want to be doing has been giving you goosebumps today. Perhaps you feel like just by imagining your fantasy, you’re tip-toeing on the edge of going crazy. That’s good! It means what you are doing is genuine. Use this feeling today to study the world around you. You are being given a rare capacity to see the projections that others are putting forth in order to get by in our world. A sense of compassion will be helpful today. If you’re going to project anything, let that be it.

30 Tuesday: Moon enters Scorpio at 12:26 pm EDT. Occultation of Mercury by the Moon. Mercury square Varuna. An occultation, like an eclipse, is when the Moon passes in front of a planet (under rare circumstances, it can involve two planets; and when something passes in front of the Sun, that is called a transit of the Sun — also extremely rare). What this means energetically is that for today, emotions are going to come right to the front of your personality. Normally we deny them and they bottle up. It might even feel like you are wearing how you feel on your forehead and what you’ll be feeling will tend to be very intense. Ethics prevents me from telling you what to do, but I can suggest that it may be in your best interest to wait until tomorrow, or the day after to share your thoughts with those closest to you, so that you can gain a little balance to offset what may be an exaggerated feeling of defensiveness. Of course, what comes out comes out. But try to be gentle. Continue Reading »

Dear Friend and Reader,

IN THE MIDST of all the intrigue the past week or three, I forgot to mention that Mercury is about to be retrograde. Blame Mercury retrograde for me neglecting to mention it, but we are now in what some call the Mercury storm phase of the extravaganza, which are the five or so days that surround Mercury changing directions relative to the Earth.

What makes matters more interesting is that the Libra equinox happens today, Sept. 22, in the midst of the storm. That’s at 11:44 am EDT, with the Moon in early Cancer. Equinox is one of the ‘quarter days’, when the Sun enters a Cardinal sign and a new season begins (autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and spring for our friends who have endured a long winter in the Southern Hemisphere). The change of seasons is always palpable. After this week, night is longer than day in the Northern Hemisphere, and we approach the next two major points in the Great Wheel, six weeks till Sahwen (Halloween) and six more weeks till Capricorn solstice. Here is a little diagram that shows the solstice and equinox to confuse you a bit more.

When we pile on the big events, we get a kind of ripple effect. Things seem of greater magnitude, or they actually are. Lots of Libra is square lots of Jupiter in Capricorn.

For those new to the discussion of Mercury retrograde or those appropriately confused by it, I will offer one paragraph of technicality. Mercury takes 84 days to orbit the Sun. The Earth takes about 365. So three times a year, Mercury passes by the Earth, and that is how we get the retrograde. Because Mercury is passing us, there is an effect where its position seems to go backwards, which is disorienting, like looking at a moving train out of the window of another moving train. (There are days when I can visualize how this works and days when I cannot. If you feel like hunting around the network for an animation, I will post it.)

The sprawling Caloris basin on Mercury. Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ. APL, Arizona State U., CIW

Now, Mercury is famous for bungling up contracts and things electronic. It is also famous for things seeming to be wrong but not really being wrong. The caveat “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” would seem wise, but things darned may well seem broke and they seem like they need fixing. Hold off. I could tell you a lot of stories, some of which ended well. Avoid doing what you don’t have to do. Avoid spending money you don’t have to spend and signing things you don’t have to sign. If MGM offers you a movie deal and you want to know when to sign, hire me on to do the electional chart and I’ll find you a window (that was not an ad, it was a public service message).

As for the dates, the retrograde actually begins on Sept. 24 at 3:19 am EDT. It goes through 4:05 in the afternoon of Oct. 15, thankfully missing the election by about three weeks. But it does not miss the peak of the campaign; some of the debates; and it doesn’t miss the $700 billion to $1 trillion Big Business bailout package. Oh, I envy these people, trying to hash this thing out just during the Mercury storm. The reason I envy them is because it’s gonna be just so gosh darned easy to skim a hundred billion here and a hundred billion there, you would think it was eating lemon sorbet. Continue Reading »