Transitions to Come

By Len Wallick

Before the nuts and bolts of astrology, a word, please.

It has been a painful week. In the United States, the tragic particulars of a mass murder have prompted entire cross sections of people to venture deep into self examination while smaller segments went even further into abject denial. Our sisters and brothers in Australia continue to experience the inundating synchronicity of Uranus in the last degrees of Pisces, empowered by an expansive conjunction with Jupiter.

Hither and yon we have seen one person after another exhausting their defenses and succumbing to seasonal or ambient stress or infectious illness. The legal defense of Julian Assange (remember WikiLeaks?) has posited that he is fighting not only for his freedom, but his very life. With the realization that we are in an astrological period of transition, the logical question, the understandable concern, is whether this sort of thing is indicative and symptomatic of long term prospects. The answer is, probably not. Change is the only trend we can bet on.

While waiting for this too to pass, the idea is not to be passive. Rather our task is to do the work on the only thing we can control, our own self. If the work is motivated by devotion and informed by joy, it is not drudgery. If it is consistent in its application, our awareness will be enhanced so as to better know when to act and the appropriate action to take. With the perception that the continuous focus of our astrology will be the Aries Point phenomenon, it becomes self evident that a well-timed response needs to be informed by realization that we are one with. The practice of active compassion is in fact the revolution that cannot fail. With that, and your forgiveness, let us please proceed to the astrology.

Today, the planet Mercury moves into Capricorn. This follows by days the ingress of Venus into Sagittarius. This coming weekend, Mars will enter Aquarius. In other words, the three planets commonly referred to as “personal” are engaged in a synchronized shift in the days between last week’s Capricorn solar eclipse and the Full Moon that will take place next week. That does not happen every day.

Before we check on the particulars of Mercury and Mars, it would be a good idea to review the personal planet thing. Your life — any human life — has cycles. Those cycles are synchronized with the cycles of the Earth — no person can deny that fact. The cycles of our planet, in turn, are inextricably associated with the cycles of the Sun and Moon, also known as the luminaries. That is self evident as well. Think about that for a moment. In three sentences we have demonstrated that astrology is valid, because astrology is about cycles and the underlying assumption is that the cycles are synchronized. Beyond that, any one cycle can inform us about any other cycle. So there, Mister Bottom Line Guy in the skanky bow tie.

Whatever orbits around the Sun, a quarter million or so objects that we have actually identified so far, has a cycle that is synchronized with the cycles of any and all objects in what you can now see is aptly called a system. A solar system, to be exact.

Over thousands of years, astrologers have observed this system of cycles, above and below. They discussed and shared their observations, written them down and passed them on as, you guessed it, a system of understanding how the elements synchronize with each other. It is a tool. Question: do you need to believe in a hammer for it to work? Of course not. All you have to do is pick it up and use it. If you don’t use it right you bend nails and smash your thumb. If you know what you are doing you can build whatever you like out of wood and nails. But only you, wielding the tool, can choose what that will be.

Same with astrology. Millennia of human observation and experience of celestial, Earthly and human cycles can tell you where you are in the system. Only you can wield the tool of discretion and decide what to do with that information. Belief is not necessary, just be careful not to whack your thumb.

Moving out from the luminaries, one of the ways we can distinguish the cycles of the planets is to compare their length and frequency to our own. Those of the personal planets are on a human scale, completed repeatedly over the course of a human life. Keep track and one can distinguish patterns. Not cause and effect, mind you. Also not the same for every human being although there tend to be some elements in common.

One of the patterns has to do with how the intrinsic nature associated with any object combines with the characteristics attributed to that abstract piece of territory called a sign. Throw in the planetary ruler of that sign, as well as the apparent direction of the one that is passing through and you can see how a change of sign would imply a synchronized shift.

Let’s start with Mercury and select just one identifying trait. Among many other things, this planet is about the workings of the human mind. Put it in Sagittarius, a mutable fire sign and those mental patterns often synchronize with the passionately spiritual, and the transformative manifestations that combination can bring about. Include the characteristics of the ruling planet, Jupiter, and there is an expansive, out-going facet added to the parallax.

A move to Capricorn, a cardinal earth sign, suggests a shift is in the offing. The dynamic acquires form and focus. A new template is developed in a form that can be sustained and reproduced. Spirit becomes doctrine in order to convey a new direction, a new season. The nature of the ruling planet, Saturn, is expressed in limits that define the shape and function.

In the following days, observe any shift in your perception of your relationship to the other things you associate with Mercury. Follow your association with transportation, the nature of communication and means of exchange. Don’t force anything, just watch and see if this time next week seems like a different place. Then use that tool and decide how to best position yourself to make the most of what a new cycle has to offer to what you want to accomplish and where you want to go.

Of course, you will have to exercise some discretion. In astrology, there are a lot of things going on in any given day. It’s a community of cycles and, as previously mentioned, they are distinguished not only by their length but also by their relative timing. This weekend, Mars synchronizes with Mercury and Venus with its own sign change. Mars in Aquarius will become part of the mix. So the personal planets will have something in common in a few days; they will be starting something new, all at about the same time.

Sort of makes you want to pay attention, right? That’s the idea. Wanting to be aware and then discerning the different ways you can do that. Soon, you are no longer a piece of flotsam, randomly dispersed by the winds, at the mercy of currents, washed ashore who knows where. Instead, you are a boat learning how to guide and propel yourself, deciding where you want to go and figuring out what you need to do in order to get there.

And there are other boats and how they come together is the surface they float on and the wind that fills their sails. That’s the realm of the transpersonal planets, Jupiter and Saturn. In recent weeks, you may recall having read in this space that the current astrology is, to a substantial extent, a flux between those two planets exerting influence either directly or by proxy. The sign changes for Mercury and Mars would seem to indicate that the influence of Saturn is growing, and that is indeed the case. That, however is quite literally ephemeral, and soon there will be other players and a more complex contention for rulership of the sky because Jupiter will be changing sign and Saturn will be changing its apparent direction..

That takes us to the planets of history, only recently incorporated into astrology as the tools and methods of science allowed us to see them and begin delineating their patterns. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto take a long time to go around the Sun and, by inference, through the cycle of signs. Our relationship with them is much the same as the individual with the culture. We have only been there and aware for a part of it. Soon, as synchronicity would have it, two of them will be changing signs as well.

So the cycles of individuals, how and where we come together and our common history are all becoming synchronized in a very special way. All those cycles are beginning anew at about the same time. That’s special. And because you are now aware that you are a functioning part of it, you are special too. Yours is the boat to steer. Yours are the winds and currents to influence. Yours is history to co-create. How would you like to see things come out? What are you going to do about it?

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