Today is Monday, Aug. 22, 2011. A few hours before this post went up at midnight Eastern time, Venus and the Moon changed signs, both jumping onto the mutable cross — Venus ingressed Virgo and the Moon entered Gemini. These changes remind us that the Sun is about to enter Virgo in a few days. There is a plenty happening this week, a diversity of factors that otherwise might be ordinary but when taken together present a situation that is worth navigating carefully.
A mentally-driven, analytical Moon-Venus square colors the day’s energy, which I would translate to: put your needs into words, and don’t be too picky about having them met. Be happy to meet responsive people who are willing to empathize with you. Notice when someone is not responsive. Moon-Venus squares are famous for their challenges with receiving, and for pushing away what’s offered to us. Therefore, receive and be grateful; or guide others gently in the art of doing so, if it’s something you’re already good at.
We might be tempted to play the ‘feelings versus thoughts’ game — claiming that one thing is more important, or more valid or comprises the proper approach to intuition, but this aspect puts them in the same approximate place. Ideas can lead you deeper, if you feel them for what they are. It’s not always necessary to emote, which is different than to feel (which means to sensate inwardly). One particular aspect that’s been brewing for weeks and peaks this week cautions against doing too much outward emoting. That would be the Mars-Saturn square, which builds through most of the week. Mars in Cancer meets Saturn in Libra at a right angle, which could feel like the clash of the cultures (or a conflict of needs) in relationship. That said, empathy does not mean giving away your power. You may feel a kind of emotional stress that suggests you really need to be free of something. Once again, be willing to empathize as best you can, including with yourself, and remember what you feel as this aspect builds to a peak Thursday.
This could be an angry aspect, but it doesn’t need to be. Squares present events that remind us to take action. Especially with Mars involved, they remind us to honor our desires despite what limitations we may perceive.
Other aspects this week present a sequence of meaningful, interesting transitions. We’re now at the very end of the Sun’s cycle through Leo. As the Sun moves toward its transition to Virgo Tuesday morning, you might feel that cycle draw to a close. The Sun makes aspects in its last moments in the prior sign — there’s an opposition to the hypothetical point Transpluto, and an opposition to Neptune.
With this combination, I suggest you be careful about judging yourself in any way (especially with that Mars-Saturn aspect in the mix). Be careful in particular imagining that others (especially a group of any kind) are judging you, a thought form that you might be inclined to project outward, given the combination of factors in the environment. Even if personal growth is a virtue, judgment (real or imagined) would not count as such. This is the kind of energy that reminds me of a performer who does something on stage, decides it was terrible and that everyone hated it, but it turns out to have been a great show. The self-judgment piece of this comes from Sun-Transpluto in Leo, and the group/delusional/projection part of the idea comes from Sun opposite Neptune in Aquarius. There are other interpretations of this arrangement; that’s the one that came out.
This is also the week that Mercury stations direct in Leo, which happens Friday, Aug. 26. For the next few days Mercury will be extending itself out to the end of the retrograde phase, seeming to stop and proceed forward in Leo. These last few days of the retrograde can be tense; they don’t usually bode well for accessing rational thought or making calm decisions. Do your best. Try to get things off of your calendar to the extent possible and put whatever plans that you may have for making important commitments on hold. For how long? Until you get the information you need, that missing bit that you may not have noticed was missing (that’s why we have astrology — to remind us to look for things we might not have seen otherwise). Work ahead when possible; use idle moments to get work done.
For all these reasons, this is a week to be a little extra vigilant in your business and personal affairs. It’s not that anyone is trying to cheat you or take advantage of you; rather, so much is changing all at once that you may lose track of things. Do a quick systems check at least once a day to make sure you remember what you need to do, or attend to. If you must sign something, that is, if you cannot declare that “Mercury is stationing, I’ll get back to you next week,” or make an excuse, then read things carefully and a little skeptically. Get the opinion of someone you trust, who specializes in what you’re inquiring about.
While all of this is happening, the Moon is moving toward the end of its current cycle. We passed last quarter on Sunday and the New Moon in Virgo is at 11:04 pm on Sunday, Aug. 28. I know that many people use the New Moon to set intentions. I’ve found that these last few days of the lunar cycle are particularly useful for getting clear in those designs, releasing your old plans and leaving yourself flexible for whatever new commitments you want to make. It’s nice that this New Moon happens early in the sign with Mercury direct, and in a conjunction to a young, vibrant Venus, who is now in one of her unofficial homes, Virgo — the sign of the goddess, not as a symbolic offering (as in Taurus) but in her actual form, holding the space of the Earth.
-Prometheus Unbound, baby! –
*Long Live the King*!!
have a great Day, PW!!
wink!
doppelgänger x 2
Thanks, darkmary and zerosity: I realize that we are talking about big gov’t and bif business being big cluster f**kers–they mange to pas it on and clusterf++k is a much better and accurate descriptor of my personal expereince at work this past weekend being left without another nurse for the entire 4 floors for my entire shift–the patients and I got it good–so g00d to swear publicly–emoting just has a place—
Keith Olberman had Taibbi on one evening last week to discuss the article. It isn’t really surprising, but the pervasiveness of the malignancy is mind boggling. Makes one wonder why people die of cancer and the governmental/corpornication version doesn’t kill them. Also gives new depth to the definition and concept of a clusterf*ck. JannKinz
Out of context, but worth a mention today. Has anyone else read Matt Taibbi’s latest financial exposé? This time on the SEC:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/is-the-sec-covering-up-wall-street-crimes-20110817?print=true
The cover-ups are beyond Neptunian. They are just downright criminal and indicative of the in-breeding between Wall Street and the federal government.
I am no fan of Iowa’s senator Chuck Grassley, but he is putting some pressure on the SEC right now. If you have a minute, drop him a letter and tell him to keep it up.
Thank you, Eric for giving the reasons for why you are making the suggestions (cf Sun/ Transpluto in Leo — opposite Neptune in Aquarius et al). That stuff is helpful for me and important to me as a learner. One more reason to love you and PW. Personally, I was put in a very bad situation at work this weekend. Emoting :>( was the best I could do under the circumstances, but it’s good to know I am just in the flow….:>) xo
Hahahaha.”Buck up campers.”
Too true.
Maybe tomorrow. 🙂
I think I’ll just try to make it through the day, for today. I’ll get my shit back. If I can find it. (That’s my mantra.)
and @ Carrie Yes. That’s quite the quote. Everyone is quoting it on FB. Like fire. This man has certainly left a legacy… Interestingly, everyone was also pissed that Monsieur Harper (Prime Minister) was not putting out a statement in a timely fashion. Blech. He’s only human and his office was probably in a crazy tizzy about what kind of statement to make. Not to mention he was actually supposed to travel to Resolute Bay (the site of the plane crash) today, but moved it to tomorrow. That’s a serious amount of devastation for a close-mouthed conservative leader to deal with. In person, in public, the guy is absolutely cold. (I’ve been in very close proximity.) But I’m quite certain he isn’t, really. It’s an approach. But how do you reconcile such an approach with a mourning nation? And this nation is in mourning, definitely. Hmm.
Troll alert: Carolina Monardes is in the house.
Michele,
Thanks for the link! I put that last line of his in quotes (with his name as the author) on my FB. It is such a great quote that I wanted to spread it around.
come on now, you two aren’t ordinary!!
buck up ! Campers..!
fog machine is workin’ great Neptune, gotta hand it to you, and I do.
luckily what is Real is on the inside. no fog there. too hot!
working w/the Heart, I am.
lots of Love & lots of Light EveryOne!
peace.
ps. fourth chair is for…..??
and then, of course, there was this in the morning:
http://www.cbc.ca/toronto/news/pdf/layton.pdf
it’s quite the letter from a fighter for social justice. he blew shit away this may.
thanks for your thoughts.
Speaking of sharing…..one of the things I keep reminding myself about this blog and the comments is this: Eric created the comments for open and free communication between people. That means open and free, not censored to fit anyone’s ideology. Eric and the folks here have been very good about keeping this space a safe place to emote, write, share, argue, and disagree without recriminations or censoring. This makes PW a special place and I wish to thank everyone who makes it possible.
Michele,
Yes don’t stop writing your feelings. I don’t know how I would feel had I experienced what you have but your sharing makes the people real to me instead of just a number on some news report. {{{{Michele}}}
Michele,
Please don’t shut up. Please don’t tell yourself to shut up, even when an astrologer you respect suggests that it’s not always necessary to emote. Twelve people died in a plane crash and you are moved by the fragility of life. How wonderful that you have not shut down to the ways we are each connected. So much in this culture conspires to get us to shut up, close our hearts, dumb down our primordial wisdom, and thus separate us from the earth and each other.
Yes, death is ordinary. It is also extraordinary. Even the ‘small’ deaths–the gap between the out breath and the in breath, a sneeze, an orgasm, the moment before we fall asleep–these are all openings, sacred openings if you will, when our perception is pure. These are moments not yet conditioned by hope and fear, by our opinions, desires and beliefs. These are moments when the possibility to fully experience (what they call in my tradition) luminous-emptiness, the original nature/awareness of the mind/soul–vast, fresh, beyond thought. Some might say this is when we can fully meet/experience God. Physical death offers an extraordinary opportunity for this experience/realization. Or perhaps you don’t believe in in any sort of life or consciousness after death. Either way, your Capricorn moon is hardly dead. You are feeling the profundity of the death of twelve people.
I am not suggesting there aren’t times (for a wide variety of reasons) to contain our emotions. I’m just hoping you will be gentle with and kind to yourself. Your heart is open. What a gift it is to me and others that you share your open heart.
mystes: eric
i forgot to make my point. death is ordinary. too bad we don’t get raised up knowing this.
as a usually outward emoter, but big on thoughts, i have been spending a whole lot of time away from the world and keeping my sobs to myself. sucks like shit. just saying. despite all the amazing advice, all the wisdom being passed on to me… i just do NOT feel equipped for everything that is happening.
there. i emoted. semi-quietly. semi-thoughtfully. briefly. i think my cap moon is dead. so that’s a laugh a minute. i just can’t let go that a bunch of people on a totally safe jet passed over my head, i heard it loudly, and 1.5 hours later they were dead. 12 of 15. dead. just pfft. like that.
you know, i’m not new to death. it’s always been a part of my life. but, this…
oh crap. shut up.
Eric or Gary?
Thanks, Eric, for the astrological cautions and navigational tools for the busy week – full of changes but also ultimately with some easing of the tension with the gifts of the New Moon, Venus and the Sun, all in Virgo (my rising sign).
On Thursday, the 25th, for all of its clustering and squaring of the Moon, Mars and Saturn, the Balsamic Moon is at 1:44 p.m. EDT. In the midst of these changes at once, we are offered the quiet of the dark days of the Moon. I think I’ll use this Balsamic time to review the Mercury Retrograde “review” we’ve been experiencing, and to distill what needs to be undone and done for the new lunar cycle on Sunday. Breakthrouths await with most of Mercury’s echo phase in Leo’s light.
So, I shall clear the calendar as best can be (especially for the end of the week), strive for quiet in the noise and “notice and choose.” Meanwhile, it’s hunker down, and get done what needs to be done to be ready for the new commitments and intentions. Thanks to all at PW for great writing, great insights, and in the midst of the “grand irrationality”. And thanks for the many voices of perspective and, dare I say, hopeful encouragement. JannKinz