Dear Friend and Reader:
Overnight Wednesday to Thursday we will experience a truly unusual New Moon, arriving at a packed and sensitive moment. This is the alignment of retrograde Mercury conjunct the Moon, the Sun and the Earth — at exactly the same time.
The Moon and Mercury will pass between the Earth and Sun at exactly the same time. The chances of this even happening are remote but here it is. And it takes place in what’s called the anaretic degrees of Scorpio — way at the end of the sign, indicating major change; and a point of no return.
In this article and Starcast, I’ll comment on the public and collective expressions of this aspect; in the readings below (for Sun and rising sign), I speak to you as an individual with your own private concerns.
This Fragile Hour
The only people not worried about the state of the world right now are the ones who think that God has appointed this moment as “the end.” Most of them think, ooh we’re finally here. Yet this has been going on in some form for at least 2,000 years.
What, me worry? The End is nigh! Repent ye sinners, or dive headlong into depraved, gluttonous debauchery. God will forgive me. I’ve got enough ramen and canned peas to last two years! And my AR-15! It’s all good!
Those of us taking a more practical approach know about the delicate balance that society and indeed the whole planet is in. And the delicate balance of our checking accounts. Personally, I’m concerned about how much weight of the world people, including children, are carrying on their chests. Television ended childhood. The internet is ending adulthood.
Any state of sovereign, grown-up, mature autonomy is being consumed by the helicopter state. When you change your pizza profile, miss a pill or fail to walk 10,000 steps, an alert pops up at the National Security Agency. In the police state, everyone is treated like a badly behaved little child. You never just get to mind your own business.
Enough Philosophy. Let’s Check the Chart.
The New Moon conjunct Mercury takes place at 28+ Scorpio (which is really the 29th degree). When you have one very hot degree, it’s helpful to check what is contacting that degree from the other three directions — that is, what’s making squares and oppositions? You get a lot of clues. I’ve put the chart below this article in case you care to look at the basic data.
Let’s call out something obvious: this lunation is opposite Uranus, which is in the last degree of Taurus. The New Moon is itself a trigger, and then the Moon and the Sun immediately oppose precipitous (and misnamed) Uranus, the disruptor, the agitator and the rebel. This setup has that distinct sprung-like-a-trap feeling, and some “unexpected” events will move quickly from here.
Here in the States, we are watching the Jeffrey Epstein-Donald Trump child sex trafficking unfold like the latest reality show. We are finding out just how many people will give the president a pass on his affinity for teenagers (he said on the Howard Stern show that 12 is too young).
We are about to see “the file” released — that is, the FBI file on Epstein, which is apparently drenched in the word “Trump” and many other people whose names are about to be exposed. I suspect this is not the bottom of the issue; I think that it’s the false floor, and the truly vexing stuff is below. What we are calling the Epstein issue is a scrim for something much larger. But if this chart means anything, there will be a jolt.
The Sword of Damocles and the Capturing of Young Girls
There are many planets tightly packed into this alignment. But a few stand out. Also aligned in conjunction with the Moon, Mercury, Earth and Sun is Deucalion, the Greek Noah. A flood was involved. In the same degree is Typhon, the most monstrous creature to ever threaten the gods.
Ultra slow-mover Dziewanna is also right in this alignment. She is the Slavic lunar deity of wild nature, forests, and hunting. This is similar to Selene or Diana, whom we think of as the Moon goddess. She is often depicted as a young maiden with a bow, accompanied by a wolf or fox, and is known for her independence and connection to the untamed aspects of the natural world. Goddesses in the lunar/hunt genre protect young women.
Natural forces are at work. But there is one thing particularly apropos of our moment. From Aquarius, we have the conjunction of Damocles and Persephone. Damocles is famous for the sword hanging by a single strand of horse-hair above the throne of a tyrant. Damocles is in the last months of a 30-year run through Aquarius.
Aligned with Damocles is asteroid Persephone, the daughter of Ceres who was captured and taken to the underworld by Pluto. This sounds a little like the sword of Damocles has something in common with trafficking young women.
We Might Ask
We might ask why this bullshit goes on and on. It does so because nearly everyone refuses to address the deeply personal matters associated with Scorpio. These include the underlying nature of sexuality, of emotional and hormonal connection, and the truth about what men and women are.
Into this vacuum of denial rushes all manner of deceit and corruption. It would be an easy enough place to maintain and exist in, except for the part about generations of previous denial, wounding, guilt and shame — all of which are driven by tyrants who benefit from the ensuing chaos.
In our current state of digital chaos, many people have become uninterested in life, in love, in human exchange, in healing, in connecting and in passion. They have never been very popular but most people knew how to have a picnic or a fun night between the sheets. Today, these things are barely fond memories.
Instead, Grubhub and The New York Times show up with a massive helping of shadow and darkness on a daily basis. There is a better way, but you have to want it, and be willing to work for it.
Anyway, these should be an excellent few days for doom scrolling, and maybe even for historians.
Your faithful astrolover,
