One question we can ask about the past few weeks that the Sun has been in Aquarius is, have you learned to play as part of a team without losing your individuality? That’s one of the central questions of Aquarius, and it’s worth asking when there’s activity in this sign. On Sunday at 1:17 am EST, the Sun transitions from Aquarius to Pisces — then the Pisces New Moon follows on Tuesday. The Sun joins many planets already in Pisces, and will make conjunctions to many of them over the next week or so. For one, the Sun immediately meets up with Neptune — the first Sun-Neptune conjunction in Pisces in nearly 150 years. Then the Sun will light up Chiron and Pallas, also in Pisces.

Positions of the planets at the time of the Sun's ingress into Pisces. Note that the Sun is exactly conjunct Neptune in Pisces for the first time in nearly 150 years.

But we’re a bit ahead of ourselves here, as the Sun will be in Aquarius two more days and will be making some interesting moves during that short time. First, it will trine retrograde Saturn (the traditional ruler of Aquarius) in Libra. That’s a lot of emphasis on Saturn energy, since Saturn has strong dignity in both Libra (where it is) and Aquarius (where the Sun is). What’s interesting about the setup is how close Saturn is to the edge of its sign (in the very last degree, retrograde) and the Sun will be in the last degree of Aquarius, moving forward. It’s the picture of some kind of unusual or unlikely experience on the edge.

On the edge of what? Well, what’s edgy or in transition in your life? This setup describes the potential to stabilize relationship situations, work out elements of structure and negotiate the next stage of a situation. There’s a meeting of an individual (the Sun), a partnership (Saturn in Libra) and a group (Aquarius).

There’s one more point in the setup — an odd, rarely-used hypothetical called Transpluto. Think of it as an imaginary planet that has a real effect. It moves extremely slowly and was discovered in the 1930s. Sun opposite Transpluto may feel like moving through a narrow opening with a kind of expert precision. Of course if the way is narrow, then precision is a good thing, so we can be glad both these aspects are happening at once. The precision involves what is known about a situation, or rather, what comes out. It looks like one party to the situation is handling the confidential knowledge of someone else, information they don’t necessarily feel comfortable having revealed.

The Sun late in a sign can arrive with unusual events, so watch for them and stay open. The window of opportunity may seem too narrow for passage, though the more open you are, and the clearer you are, the the better you’ll be able to handle whatever this is describing. Go through the opening consciously, taking one step at a time. Imagine the planets moving in extra-slow motion as the Sun slips through the last degree of Aquarius, moving toward Pisces. There’s significant support coming from that sign, in the form of the Jupiter-Chiron-Mercury setup we’ve been describing for a few days.

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In today’s spectacular Welcome Back edition of Planet Waves FM, Rick Santorum appears to explain himself. Rick is a product of the centaur planets Chiron and Nessus, which you can see in the chart below are conjunct his Moon and Sun respectively.

Rick Santorum's little slice of heaven.

Before I get into that, however, I describe the current Pisces sky with the Sun in late Aquarius. Charts are posted in the few blog posts below; not only are there currently many planets in Pisces, there is also a spectacular alignment today that I describe. That’s Mercury conjunct Chiron and sextile Jupiter — which bridges Pisces to Taurus and is just about as perfect of an expression as you can get of blending these energies — earth and water, mind and knowledge, the misty light of Pisces with the focusing agent of Chiron. I won’t say much more here — the audio tells you most of what you’ll want to know and I can reply to your queries here.

Now as for Mr. Santorum. Here’s the page of quotes that I’m reading from a bit clumsily; and here is what happens when you do a Google search for his name.

The chart is a noon chart as his time isn’t published yet. I focus on the Sun and the Moon. The Sun is conjunct Nessus; the Moon is conjunct Chiron. You may recognize Venus and Mars without needing a glyph key — they match the symbols on the bathroom doors in restaurants. The upshot is that Santorum is inheriting a raft of pain and a kind of infection from his parents; he’s a sensualist who doesn’t want to admit it; and worst of all he is at war with his feminine side, which he then projects into a war onto women. He needs therapy, not the opportunity to inflict his personal pain on society.

This and more in today’s edition of Planet Waves FM. Listen in the old player here.

Note to Readers: Len Wallick’s astrology updates right below this post.

There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don’t know. — Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense

Right now one of the clearest messages in they sky is: How much do you trust yourself – your intuition, your abilities, your desires? We see this in the conjunction of Mercury and Chiron, which is exact today.

Mercury conjunct Chiron will help us see the unknown unknowns.

There are several takes on Mercury-Chiron aspects, of which the conjunction is the most potent. You can think of Mercury-Chiron as being the quiet kid in the class, who didn’t have much to say but who turned out to be a chess grand master. Or the dyslexic kid who turned out to be an amazing artist. Or the one who could not pass a test, especially a spelling test, who turned out to be a gifted writer. In Pisces, this is particularly the image of intuitive knowledge, with a touch of savant quality. But this knowledge has a source, and it can be verified.

Another take comes from Barbara Hand Clow, in her book Chiron: Rainbow Bridge, who notes that any aspect between Chiron and Mercury “Balances right and left brain perceptual skill and quickens the deeper levels of the mind.” Pisces is all about the balancing of opposites, so this holds true — especially when you remember that both Mercury and Chiron are associated with Virgo. In Pisces, you may not be able to follow the logic — not at first, but if you do, you might learn a whole new kind of logic that adds a dimension or two. Clow adds that with the conjunction, there is a “superlative ability to perceive exactly what is going on in any situation and to understand how people are thinking in relation to the situation.”

Pay attention to what you perceive and what you’re thinking, because good information will be available if you do. The Mercury-Chiron conjunction is supported by the sextile to Jupiter (traditional ruler of Pisces, which brings in even more mojo), which we covered yesterday. Now, both Chiron and Mercury are picking up on the knowledge base contained in Jupiter, which has a practical aspect in that Jupiter is in Taurus.

The catch is you have to trust yourself. You have to trust that inner voice that would guide you if you’d let it. Trust that if you have come to this moment, then you must also have the ability to bring ‘it’ into the world (whatever ‘it’ is for you) in tangible form and embody it.

Referring to that quote by Don Rumsfeld above, think of Mercury, Chiron and Pisces working together as being a way to find about some of the “unknown unknowns.” We all have a little extra ability to see around the corners and into the blind spots right now.

At the moment, the Sun is going through the last degrees of Aquarius, about to enter Pisces on Sunday. Before it does, it will make a trine to Saturn in Libra and an opposition to an odd point called Transpluto. That’s like going through a very narrow opening with precision — a point we’ll come back to tomorrow.

I just cast a horary chart for a client and noticed that Venus square Pluto is exact. This is Venus in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn, which could add a sense of urgency and intensity to the day. This aspect can also have a sense of finality and emotional push. I think this is what Jonathan Cainer is talking about when he writes in today’s Pisces horoscope, “It’s easy now, for someone to get carried away with enthusiasm for a plan or proposition that sounds exciting but is really nothing so special. Watch for that. Be similarly suspicious of hyperbole about an apparent threat. Ultimately, it matters less than you think.”

If you look at the chart connected with the post from two days ago, you’ll see that there are a lot more planets in it than there are in the chart we have here — but they’re for the same section of the sky. When you sift through the many planets, you can sometimes find a real gem, and tonight we have one: an aspect called Jupiter sextile Chiron, which you can think of as applied spirituality. This aspect isn’t about knowledge for it’s own sake — it’s about what you do with what you know.

Mercury conjunct Chiron, sextile Jupiter. This is exact Thursday and it's approaching now, so it's in full effect. Mercury adds the dimension of awareness and an idea to this beautiful aspect, making it more accessible.

Chiron, for those new to the name, is an odd little thing, part asteroid, part planet and part comet, that takes 51 years to go around our Sun. Think of Chiron as a utility that makes the energies of the subtler planets more easily available. Jupiter can be overwhelming, and its promise is rarely fulfilled; but when Chiron is in the equation, we have access to the wisdom and benefits of Jupiter. That’s what this aspect is about.

A sextile is a gentle aspect; think of it as saying “I can do this” or “I do it because I can” or moreover, “I’m glad I have this skill because it’s really useful now.”

A sextile isn’t in your face like an opposition. It doesn’t pop up out of the cosmos on random occasions like a square. It’s not in the palm of your hand like a conjunction. But it’s there if you need it, and the chances are you have some area in your life that is calling for the practical spirituality of this aspect. Think of this aspect as granting manifestation powers; it’s an excellent aspect for learning, integrating knowledge and as a result, getting things done. By integrating knowledge, I mean taking what you know from one sphere of your life and applying it to another, for a specific result.

Jupiter is sextile Chiron in the discovery chart for Chiron (from November 1977). Even more interesting, right now Jupiter is sitting in the sky right where Chiron was first discovered. You can trust a few things, given this bit of history. One is that what needs to be healed or resolved can be. What you need to create, you can create, if you set your intentions and you’re open to receiving it. Both are necessary. There is also something about letting the past go.

This is a slow-moving aspect, and it may represent something that’s been developing for a long time. Currently, Mercury is also in Pisces, and on Thursday it will form a conjunction to Chiron and a sextile to Jupiter — so that the message of this aspect will manifest in some tangible way, even more so than it might have otherwise. Pay attention to your senses; notice what your mind conjures. This is a rare gem of an aspect and it’s got plenty to teach us.

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