By Len Wallick
Well now, there’s two, there’s two trains running / well they ain’t never, no, going my way / well now, one run at midnight and the other one running just `fore day”
–McKinley Morganfield
Today retrograde Venus conjoins on-rushing Mercury in Scorpio. In order to appreciate and utilize their brief engagement in passing we need to review the back story.
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Recently, after months of dogged pursuit and adventure, Venus and Mars had two dramatic conjunctions in short order. In August, just as Venus achieved its greatest eastward elongation, it caught up with Mars in Libra. On the same day Mercury stationed retrograde in Virgo. At about the same time Saturn and Pluto exacted the last of their three T-square aspects, closing a chapter for Libra and Capricorn and laying the foundation for another. It seems so long ago.
The second time it was Mars that did the catching up. Earlier this month it was in Scorpio, just days before Venus stationed retrograde. That rare retrograde started about the time of the Libra New Moon. In turn, those events were closely concurrent with the asteroids Juno, Pallas, Vesta and the minor planet Ceres all changing signs within days or hours of each other.
All of that may also seem like a long time ago. By the time the Scorpio New Moon takes place in the same degree of that most recent Venus-Mars conjunction, the midterm elections will have concluded in the United States and today may seem to be in the distant past as well. Such is the current pace of events as reflected in the planets.
Coincident to that apparent expansion of time is a sudden and ephemeral collection of planets in Scorpio. It started with the yin of Venus last month. The yang energetics of Mars followed less than a week later. Vesta was next, making ingress just hours after the Libra New Moon. Nearly two weeks later Mercury was next. Closely following was the ingress of the Sun this last Friday, just hours after opposing the Aries Moon. All of a sudden, it seems we have a stellium in the sign of metamorphosis and transition.
Now, Venus and Mars are going their separate ways. They will meet again next year, just after the Sun moves into Gemini. So it is that today appropriately under a Gemini Moon, that backpedaling Venus conjoins with Mercury.
Of all the planets in the Scorpio stellium, only Venus is destined to hook up with them all. First it was Mars, then Vesta this last weekend just after the second Aries Full Moon in a row. The conjunction with Sol will come as October draws to a close. To reiterate, today’s conjunction with Mercury is brief in that they are going in opposite directions at a combined apparent velocity of over two degrees a day. It’s important to be paying attention because Venus is pulling the common thread.
It’s also important because of where the Moon is. Gemini is one of the two signs ruled by Mercury. Having Luna enter that mutable air sign just as its dispositor is in conjunction with Venus in a sign ruled by Mars is exquisite timing. It connects Luna to the Scorpio stellium and brings an intuitive emotional component to the potential for fleeting clarity implied by today’s conjunction.
A moment’s clarity is what we need right now. The waters have become at once rapid and muddy. Invoking the ghost of the cardinal T-square, a lot of things have been happening all at once. The Venus retrograde seems to be synchronous with a passionate awakening to attachments which have not yet attained closure. Conversely a host of planetary sign changes has placed us in new territory, requiring us to reorient ourselves and adjust.
There may be a lot of “where did this go?” and “whatever happened to that?” going around as we are driven to distraction. We might become the target of those who react in frustration and anxiety rather than responding in compassion and empathy. Mole hills could start to look like mountains and gentle slopes begin to look steep.
In an election season you can be sure that there are those who are ready to exploit the situation by encouraging us to vote angry without thinking. Prodding us to react without considering qualifications and consequences. That is, if we find time or even remember to vote at all. So what clue can we take from today’s glimpse of awareness represented by Venus, Mercury and the Moon? What solution is implied that would guide our action?
First, just because Venus and Mars are pulling apart does not mean we have to be reacting in kind. It is not necessary for us to be divided against ourselves, internally or collectively. After leading the pack forward since before the vernal equinox, Venus is re-tasking. It is now on an inner quest. That takes it out of the flow it has defined for so long. That can be confusing. It’s like someone you have been deeply involved with and attached to asking for some “me time”. To make it work we have to be aware that it’s ok, this is just an eddy in the stream and that the flow will be rejoined in time.
We can also allow ourselves to get comfortable with the idea that it’s possible to multi-task and still be whole. We can permit ourselves to have an inner life that is not the same as our external experiences. One can inform the other. We need not be torn asunder, nor is it necessary to divide ourselves into compartments. As long as the inner and outer know their differences they can follow different paths while informing each others journey and integrating on a continuous basis.
In a nation or a culture, struggling against diversity only creates division. Encouraging diversity, whether it be in religion or ethnicity or lifestyle promotes unity. Suppression creates tension and instability. Inclusiveness makes everyone more altruistic.
So it is with the individual. As Mars, Vesta, Mercury and ultimately the Sun engage with and pull apart from Venus we can keep ourselves whole by allowing our inner yin its own path knowing that it’s really not going anywhere. It’s coming back. So can we.
Offered In Service
yes.
…it would seem that as the tail wags the dog, white-male-ness has been manning up for 180 degree rotation in this our wild cup’n’saucer ride of an imbalanced culture.
aword – McKinley Morganfield was his given name. As i understand it, many African-American males born in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were named after presidents because their parents hoped that would give them a better chance of getting a job. Because most potential employers were white and racist, a black man with a “safe” name was deemed less threatening and more employable. Now in the 21st century, people with Islamic names (and dress) are the objects of commonly accepted discrimination. It never seems to end, this American tradition of bigotry. Wonder who it will be in the 22nd century.
🙂
And your quote sounded like Muddy Waters, but I had to look up ‘McKinley’…..hehheh.
aword – Your perception of the fleeting “window” is an excellent example of the aspect. Matter of fact, you perception is very well taken all the time.
Lisa,
Thank you for your feedback today and for your erudition always.
A beautiful piece of astrology my friend, it touches me too deeply for words.
“Invoking the ghost of the cardinal T-square, a lot of things have been happening all at once.”–for me, natally and personally, this is much more overwhelming phase …
thank you Len
xo
Lisa
oh – and conversely and perhaps more important in it’s manipulative quality, “we’ll never stop trying to entice you to be like us, think like us behave like us with the carrot-at-the-end-of-the-stick being that of inclusion in the family group.”
Len,
Hm, well – yes. And now I am assured of my crossroads, yet still unsure of my choice.
This weekend I had the first instinct in forever to communicate/update/heal relationship with dad – as though a small window had opened in which to do so.
Less “small” regarding time for actual exchange/s but rather “small” in how much time I have to make my decision before I will forget about it, let the moment pass and move on to other things.
And yet I have been “burned” by that relationship so many times in so many ways I find myself stumped, stopped and in pain – or perhaps just numb – at said crossroads.
So Hmm again I say, “Hmmmmm..”
Thanks to you all – Jude I will meditate on your words as well – supression and inclusiveness being at the root of my conflict with family. (that is, “we’ll include you if you think/act/behave like the rest of us”.)
xo
Jude and Amanda,
Thank you for the encougagement. Working to sincerely and passionately to be a better astrologer and a more readable writer.
“There may be a lot of “where did this go?” and “whatever happened to that?” going around as we are driven to distraction. We might become the target of those who react in frustration and anxiety rather than responding in compassion and empathy. Mole hills could start to look like mountains and gentle slopes begin to look steep.”
yup — or we may look up to see we’re the ones reacting in frustration and anxiety, to others and ourselves. *sigh*
“First, just because Venus and Mars are pulling apart does not mean we have to be reacting in kind. It is not necessary for us to be divided against ourselves, internally or collectively.”
thanks for the reminders, Len. not a moment too soon, for sure.
Suppression creates tension and instability. Inclusiveness makes everyone more altruistic.
Amen and Amen, my dear. Nicely said, as usual. And let me echo be’s assessment — I can’t imagine what whoever is not ‘feeling that way’ is thinking. You are a treasure.
be,
Wow, thank you. That’s kid of overwhelming. Your kind words come at a good time, however. Seems that not everybody feels that way.
Wow, Len! A clue to an astrologer’s “talent” is when what they write seems to be written expressly for the individual reading it and yet, it is truly applicable to ALL who read it. So it is today as it is quite often at PlanetWaves. The disadvantage of being a commenter (as opposed to the writer) to a blog is the lack of preparatory time; you get a moment of time and offer up a rough draft of your feelings and thoughts and inspirations. I’m not complaining! It’s just that I’ve so many thoughts regarding today’s “offering” but I don’t want to bore anyone or take up too much space. So, briefly, “where did this go?” could describe how I’ve been feeling after brother & sis-in-law drove away with a truck-load of my belongings last Thursday. It’s all good though. I’ve got the needed space, the primary purpose of that exchange, and more. A sense of cleared decks and a plan, once just a dream, is now possible. Now about the rest of your article.
“. . because Venus is pulling the common thread” brought to mind the seamstress, weaver, needlepointer, alterations expert, and more. Why do they all backtrack their needlework from time to time? To re-inforce, to create decoration, to divide one section of the piece from another, and maybe more. As I’m not much of a sewer (sower yes, sewer no), this thought came as a surprise. Your sentence “The Venus retrograde seems to be synchronous with a passionate awakening to attachments which have not yet attained closure.” sounds to me like the division of one part from another, but I may be wrong. I’m thinking the “not yet attained closure” refers to the attachments and not the “passionate awakening”. Am I right on that?
Well, two points and then I’m outta here; first I am so glad you lead your readers to understand how these separating energies (mainly Mars from Venus) don’t need to divide us and then tell us what and why it is happening. Second, we all know Aquarius has the old ruler, Saturn, and the new ruler Uranus. We have all seen the Saturn influence in Aquarian times and Aquarian people, and also the Uranian influence, both in events, times and people. How strange that such diverse energies represented by these two gods should be joined in one concept/sign. How lucky we all are when those two energies meet in one individual who can provide the stability, grounding and patience of Saturn and, at the same time, offer the instant insight and freedom to imagine the unimaginable. How very lucky. Thanks for all that Len!
be