By Len Wallick
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By the time you read this, Venus is certainly in Scorpio, retrograde Jupiter is back in Pisces, and the Moon will be in Libra. Those are the sign changes. Mars, also direct, will follow suit with Venus with its own ingress to Scorpio next week.
In the meantime, retrograde Mercury’s apparent motion has slowed to less than half a degree a day and retrograde Pluto is all but standing still. By the time you read Monday’s blog, both will probably be direct. Those are the changes of direction. If you subscribe to the concept of synchronicity at all, this is clearly no time to be inflexible or narrow minded. There is also an element of the contradictory and the paradoxical.
How to respond? Well, there’s always the chill-out, hang-loose tactic. That’s not entirely a bad idea. Actually it’s an excellent approach to take if you don’t want to get anything done. However, the long-term, big-picture astrology indicates that the day will be won and the future shaped by those who act. The question is not so much whether you want a piece of that so much as how much the rest of us need you to step up. If you don’t, somebody else will and their creation may not be what you would like to see happen to who and what you love.
Though the cardinal T-square has entered into a new rendition of transition, the operative words still have substantial meaning. When Sol enters the first degree of a cardinal sign, it is not just a metaphor. The relationship between the Sun and the surface of the Earth is transitioning to a new paradigm known as a season. Synchronously, any form of astrological activity on or about the leading cusp of a cardinal sign means that something new is being initiated. It is an inescapable conclusion that one who chooses to participate in harmony with such an event will find that personal efforts are enhanced by the sheer collective power of the aggregate.
A square is not just an allegory either. Every time you look up at the Moon in a quarter phase, you know it’s as real as it gets. The distinguishing characteristic is the direction of the dichotomy. Is the illuminated side growing or diminishing? If you know the direction of applying tension and the qualities of the contrasting expressions you can not just act, you can act appropriately.
Appropriate action can take many forms. From the outside it is not always evident. But wherever patient persistence and devoted practice are found there is no passivity, though it may sometimes seem so. Apparently that is, until the moment arrives and timing finds its place in the order of things.
We are two weeks from another equinox, and it is essential to keep the long-term, big picture in mind. That being established, it would make sense to break the current and extraordinary temporal cluster of short-term transitions into small pieces so as to make some sense of it and appreciate just what a bracing set of events is entailed. Jupiter’s retrograde return to Pisces is a good place to start because of its close association with the big picture background.
Jupiter’s position in the solar system makes it the innermost of the giant planets consisting mostly of gas. Its orbital period is shortest among the major planets most of which take more than a decade to go around the Sun. That makes Jupiter a bellwether and harbinger of the transitional, and we should pay attention to it during this period. Then, of course there is the small matter of its position on and about the Aries point.
In spite of the bad reputation of retrograde movement, this retrograde carries Jupiter back into the sign of its traditional rulership. That means that it can express itself fully and without inhibition. Given that Jupiter is a benefic (that is, an influence that brings good news), that’s gotta be good. Looking back to the first half of the calendar year, you gotta admit it felt like being short changed to have the big fella sprint across Pisces in less than half the time it spends in any sign. Now we get some of that change back. Additionally, in spite of its magnifying qualities, Jove holds the potential of keeping rambunctious Uranus in check. In a little over a week when they conjoin, we are going to get some valuable insight on longer term patterns. Pay attention to events just before and after September 18, and more important — remember them.
Venus on the other hand provides an interesting comparison case. As a form of baseline, it is considered to be a benefic planet as well (again, an influence that brings good news). The contrast is the direction of movement and its relationship to the new sign. For now, Venus is slowing down but still direct for the next four weeks or so. In Scorpio, it is in what is referred to as detriment.
Like the element, the planetary rulership of a sign is an arcane combination of common sense and intuition. The sign of detriment, on the other hand is more like the quality, logically determined as a result of its orientation. In this case the sign opposing the place of rulership is designated as the opposite — a place of exile. Since Venus is the ruler of Taurus, it stands to reason the opposing sign of Scorpio would be such a place.
Any human being in exile is not particularly safe, obliged to maintain a low profile and keep the proverbial nose scrupulously clean. So how is it that Venus in Scorpio does not sound like such a bad thing? Other than the conclusion that most of us have our minds in the gutter of euphemism, the answer is that Scorpio is complex.
We have, of course, been discussing Virgo quite a bit lately. It is one of those signs where the earth element and the mutable quality seem to contradict each other. While the hobgoblin of consistency can find this confronting, it is also stimulating to the extent one can accept what goes with the territory.
Scorpio takes discomfort with the oxymoronic to a whole other level. Especially when one realizes that fixed water does NOT mean ice. Given the patrilinear streak of nearly every civilization in recorded history however, we can only thank our lucky stars for the Scorpionic paradox that keeps the wheel turning precisely at the point of the cycle when it faces the greatest resistance.
Hence, Venus in Scorpio is not so straightforward and not so weak. It is not so much that the planet is inhibited. It is is more the case that the inhibitions are exposed, expressed and released. Of course, this can sometimes resemble the tableau of the fertilizer hitting the oscillator, but so much the better for spreading it evenly, right?
As with our anticipation of what Jupiter’s next conjunction with Uranus will be like, this preliminary foray of Venus in Scorpio will have a defining moment of its own early next month when Mars catches up just days before Venus turns around and heads back to Libra.
Speaking of which, we are shortly due to be reminded that Mercury does not follow the same protocol as the Moon. Whenever it approaches one of those turning points called a station, it does not matter whether its apparent motion is soon to be direct or retrograde. It is still a stormy period. Don’t get careless. Even more important, don’t get irresponsible. It may be tempting to say the heck with it. Consider finding motivation in what you would embrace rather than fixating on what you would reject. You are not Mercury. In this case, you have more in common with the Moon The direction of your intent does matter. It matters a lot.
So, to pull it all together, this is no time to slack off. Neither is it time to force square pegs into round holes. Rather it is the appropriate thing to show up and pay attention. Be aware of crucial dates: September 12 (Mercury station), September 18 (Jupiter conjunct Uranus in Pisces) and September 23 (the Libra equinox). Observe the patterns, add things up and pick your spot to shift from contemplation to action. Know what your intent is and be at peace with it before you cast the die. This is where we put on our thinking caps, folks. Be sure not to reach for the pointy one.
Offered In Service
That job really doesn’t sound half bad. Decent pay, you’d have lots of days off. So THAT’S why funerals cost so much, I wondered. Just to cremate a person is a few thousand dollars and that’s without the urn. Morbid, maybe, but it happens to all of us.
Hazel-congratulations on your new moon decision, what a great feeling for you it must be!
Len, thank you for this……good advice to not slack off and stay alert. For some one who easily feels left out of the cosmic action, I am going to take this and see if I can have a intentional September…one day at a time.
Thanks Jere, we are not a no kill shelter, unfortunately, but we do try to make their transition a peaceful one if it’s necessary. Actually I’ve never met people who were more cuckoo over animals, one of our customers today commented on how much our shelter loves those little ones.
Since I have scorpio on the 2nd house, I thought I would share a scorpionic job prospect I learned about today. A friend has gotten into the business of transporting the dead as a retirement job, and has a hurst for the task. Today he went out of state, a long drive to the upper peninsula of Michigan, and returns tomorrow. The pay for the trip was 3,000. I understand that business is booming these day, what with all of us old boomers getting more elderly, along with the depression era folks. Two trips like that per month and you take in 72,000 a year before taxes. I’m guessing the business write-offs would be high (gas, mileage, hotel, meals, and depreciation). Not bad for part-time work if you can think with cheer and good wishes for the departed. You can always throw in a beach towel and a fishing rod, and have a vacation day on the way home.
Stem Cell Research ban stayed by Appeals court. Embryonic stem cell research can continue.
Anyone: Does this look like anything that these rulings that transpired over the Merc retro are getting reversed? I wonder what will happen when Pluto goes direct?
Florida Church group cancels its 9-11 “Burn a Quran Day”.
Hazel, (just for info. sake,.. I applied, years ago, at an S.P.C.A. facility, and dropped out due to the potential of having to euthanize.),.. when my beautifully kind dog-friend Moya was going through her death throws, I discovered a chinese herbal formula that actually doped the gal up enough for her to continue to smile. I had to grind and liquify the pills (3), (and I can’t remember the herbs..),.. but, it was an interesting set of caretaking values that I was privvy to (and she slipped out painlessly). I’m still not a mercy killer,.. there are ways (with time and info.) to make the transition as gentle and peaceful as possible.
Good luck with the shelter gig.. it’s a highly respectable, very honorable profession.
Love,
Jere
Hello again edayis.
What I was struggling for is the possibility that in all truth your partner isn’t seeing why moving 3 states away is problematic – having stated her passion for you and commitment to a long distance haul, than her seeing abandonment in your reaction to her may be genuine – tho as a pisces too I understand your reaction completely.
And then the deal is to map it out. If she is important would you go the distance. If this blind spot between you is genuine can you not create some way of reflecting it so she can see it. Really it is a question of persisting til the penny drops, and I’m not being patronising just stating fact of unfamiliar thought patterns that have a bearing on the situation, if your vision is the more sound all round. And then the issue (I think you may find) is not what you thought it was – ie if your girl genuinely is passionate about you and committed, praps she’s not playing games, just different.
I can’t really explain it, just know in my own situation that we have had big long heated discussions about money, value, other people, child rearing, integrity, blurring lines, people as things, commitment, loads of things. The issues have a cycle of a couple of years and one day he says ‘just look at that!’ and everything unknots. The thing is to be glad when each other ‘get’ something, and keep the heated discussions to fact (even if intuited).
Follow, say that is not the key point (if it’s not), are you going to listen to me or not (if no you’ve had it), say (sorry) but that’s a bum note, say please don’t block me out, say great so you are giving up on me then – that’s really promising me thick and thin, say you can’t even say yes or no about whether you are going to help me get the balance right with sugaring this compote when you know my tendency is to put no sugar because each person’s preference is different and you can get the line of public taste so that it is a product ready to eat and everyone says wow but that is really well balanced – and if you want it to sell it it has to be you who does that since people want something they can open and eat not add sugar to their personal taste because that is not ‘finished’ (and then he concedes that only he can do it because it is true), say if you can’t even say yes or no about sugar how can you hope to say anything about you and me or be surprised that I have no sense of who I am to you, find ways to show I am valuable to you if I am, for me even if it is ‘stupid’ for you. etc etc. Go deep to the logical conclusion, pull up any speaking out of both sides of her mouth or using the same argument to argue completely opposite positions, any levering to unbalance you just for the hell of it. Ask if she has any interest in people specifically or just in theory and in general. Whatever it is that is real for that moment.
you will possibly have a load of rows, and very often I think I’m on my way out, but in all honesty I can only be as honest and as kind as I know and finally that is being as direct as you know how, calling sloppy stuff and faults and sleights of hand (him to me too), ie being a companion along the way – and if for you drawing a line is now then that is that.
Endeavour to make your rows however heated no more than the farts of that insect in the desert, things that blow up and are gone.
And the effect I know is calling time in a different area, closing the door on something out of my vision that will come up on the horizon sometime. If I am completely honest and follow my calls through I have laid the ground work for something else (ie avoided that the weeds have made seeds) even something like so that he cannot make the sort of generalisations that woman’s guy did because that card has been flagged, is made conscious, he cannot help but have it at need because there is not just his well being to think of.
And lest this sound awful it is only the pisces angle, (his aquarius qualities go without saying), the discussion where pisces meets aquarius and tensions arising from the pisces view and ongoing discussions there.
The kids and I discovered Kung Fu this year with David Carradine. An amazing series. you may have to watch several even loads but they build a sort of lucidity. Something very sane there and conscious.
I no longer ask myself how I look, if I am embarassed or embarassing, or this or that with him, how it will fall out; but if I am true in relation to him, and this has been the most revealing aspect of my relationship with him. I can only be true with him, it is the only things that ‘works’, tho it can take every ounce of effort I have and is uncomfortably ‘live’. not a thing of expediency at all. He finds me awful, I am appalled that his partners down the years haven’t done their ‘work’. But I look at the two of us over the last 10 years and what I see in our faces and then I think the thing is not how difficult it feels but the ongoing effect and if there is still something ongoing in the love between you.
Our medic said to me once that if no subject is closed, no one shut up, even if you row all the time, can’t agree about anything, your relationship is alive and true if not comfortable.
Forgive me if this is too personal to be useful
For the new moon I realized that I think I would like to go back to school to become a veterinary assistant or a vet. tech. That way I’d get to work with the animals and make better money. So I contacted a couple of schools and talked to a couple of people who are in the business (I work for an animal shelter, but in their thrift shop). So I guess I started some kind of process here, which a month ago I wouldn’t have thought I’d be doing, I’m glad that at least I’m in sync. with things “out there”.
@ miaferoleto (sorry for others who already saw this)
here is my post that Pam was referring to:
# edayis on 08 Sep 2010 at 3:17 pm
well, this retrograde has been a real trip for sure. as a Pisces, Virgo being my relationship sign, this Rx has reeked tremendous havoc on my significant relationship with my Aquarius partner. the main relationship issues the Rx has surfaced are those of commitment and accountability.
I found myself prepared after 2 years of long distance relationship to move forward and commit to having her here with me (at least in the same state). She wants to continue our relationship and speaks of the passion she holds for us to make it, then turns around and moves three states away after finishing her grad program for the past 2 years! Then has the audacity to not take ownership of her decision, with comments like, “I feel like you’re abandoning me”.. . (I said I no longer am interested in continuing a long distance relationship if she wouldn’t move closer.)
I am a reasonable person, but I am quite perturbed with my partner’s inability or refusal to take ownership for her myopic decisions that effect both of us. When I call out this behavior, I seem to be vilified for abandoning her and the relationship.
Signed,
Struggling with mercury Rx in Virgo
@ Pam,
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to my post from yesterday. I guess I’ve begun the process of chalking things up to the fact that we are two completely different people. I do have some disappointment to work through, which involves a mini-universe of other feelings.
It is a classic case scenario, however, of two people who have the potential of sharing a wonderful life together, completely missing actually SEEING one another. I do have a strong understanding of personal integrity.. . And as much as I would be willing to accommodate many things for my partner, this Pisces knows the importance of healthy boundaries and will not play into this game of hide and seek.
Again, thank you so much for taking the time. And to all of you amazing creatures doing all of this writing for us- Len, Eric, and others– thanks for being the conduits of understanding for us all.
peace
-s
Morning, Len…
This
“Additionally, in spite of its magnifying qualities, Jove holds the potential of keeping rambunctious Uranus in check.”
was very helpful. When I looked at my chart the first time, I noted Jupiter just a few degrees up from my *very* active Mars/Uranus conjunction in the 8th H. I said to myself: hooboy, what was I thinking – pulling into town with *this* arrangement?!
Now I get the possibility that the M/U 8thH cluster has likely been informed and ameliorated by Jupiter in the 9th. Now that I think about it, at my best I do tend to direct those fireworks through 9th H concerns and activities. Suddenly that configuration looks less like a hot potato, more like bowl of vichysoisse.
Kissies,
M
Thank you, Len, for a great article. I can feel lots of things about to take off in my life and around me. It will be interesting to see where things stand by the end of the month.
Pam, I tried to locate the blog your reference from ‘edayis’ but was not able to fine it. Being an Aquarian myself, it caught my attention. On which day was it posted?
There is a great deal of Aquarian energy or influence going around in recent years. Sarah Palin is one. I believe Obama has Aquarius rising. Fe and Len, aren’t you both Aquarians? Like with all signs, there are positive and not as positive traits. Palin takes the Aquarian trait of being flaky to new heights. Although I think she is presenting an image when she is far more manipulative than she appears.
Len, isn’t Venus exalted in Pisces?
pps just coming at things from different angles often – that illustration I used risks to suggest that there is ‘fault’ and often I think the reality is just coming at things from different angles and in different media
ps for edayis – you see even if you are ‘mistaken’, in going the distance with your call everything become clear and conscious between you – then how you communicate better between you so that neither takes x as y etc
Thank you again Len
For edayis from the other day – perhaps you can only make calls as you see them. That is the creative moment (comfortable or not), and necessary (even if you were to be mistaken). Not a bad thing either for you to be able to speak your truth and hold a line.
In my experience it is necessary to persist with aquarian situations (excuses to all aquarians out there who disagree or hate people telling them ‘what to do’) because once you have mapped an issue forwards and then backwards through 360° they get the heart of the matter straightaway, don’t bear grudges, maybe take it as their own idea but what the heck. If it feels like pulling teeth I think it is worth it – you end up with an aquarian almost as fluid as a pisces with all their aquarian lucidity and precision to boot. And something of their precision and airyness for yourself.
One aquarian I know has a one (ok several) track mind and can at any point lift off at any point through 360° to follow another line. It is possible to follow and make calls and the fireworks are just colour and par for the course. Call the abandonment card as a clever piece of shifting blame, keep calling through the shape shifting until your friend’s default position is one of integrity (even simple kindness) towards you and finally of integrity (you may have to keep half an ear open for sheer mischief – think siamese cat or donkey if you know any, they both have that sense of mischief and seeing if you are following the trick and deep loyalty if they love you that they can forego the fun of just playing on the lines).
There is a difference between integrity and expediency and sleight of hand in opportunity. Offer to move too if you can, if this move is an important one.
I think aquarians are genuinely unaware of the effect they have on others with their blytheness – things that worry other mortals aren’t really apparent to them until it is real. An aquaintance recently fell in love after separating from the father of her two kids a couple of years ago. He had cheated on her 6 times (at least once long term) and worked to convince her it was nothing. To keep her kids she struggled to stay with him, finally accepted they wanted different things that her job was looking after the kids and working and being creative so they separated but worked closely together over the kids. She had no expectation of falling in love again. Her husband however has suddenly realised that praps losing your partner to someone else is a big deal (or even that losing her, specifically, is a big deal). I know planetwaves has a less traditional take on this sort of thing, but to me it illustrates neatly the gap that aquarians can perhaps have between blytheness and the ‘reality’. The trick is to work to make your airy friend’s experience of something real enough that they understand where you are coming from, and finally maybe trust you enough that even if they don’t see the point of something it is given that it has importance for you and on the basis of past experience of your integrity/good calls (over years), the probability that there is more to this than meets the eye is right up there as a possibility.
And again apologies to any aquarians and if this generalisation is limited to one example or feels unfair or patronising (not my intention – this is for edayis…).
xxxp
Thank you thank you dear Len for your stunning blog – for all your stunning blogs, you just describe my situation so well – so very helpful, a real guide.
Love
Liz xx