Today is Tuesday, Aug. 16. 2011. The Moon is in Pisces, approaching a conjunction to minor planet Ceres — the first minor planet ever discovered (that was back in 1801). This is an emotional, even sentimental alignment, which could be describing some deep movement of energy, especially regarding mothers and daughters. This is a day to pay attention to the subtle level of feeling (Pisces always says ‘subtle’). There is something here about women understanding how they’re shaped by their mother’s vision for who they’re supposed to be. Yet for many this may be a background theme, as we’re in the midst of a spectacular triple conjunction this week, which is exact today: Mercury, Venus and the Sun in Leo.
Mercury is just as retrograde as it was yesterday, but we’ve now reached the peak of the cycle — the Sun and Mercury are in a close conjunction that will be exact at 9:03 pm EDT.
That conjunction is Mercury passing exactly between the Sun and the Earth, and is the midpoint of the Mercury retrograde experience we’re in.
(The technical name for this is the Mercury-Sun interior or to astronomers, inferior conjunction.) I’ve noticed that this is one of the ‘unusual things happen’ days such as something out-of-pattern that grants an opportunity.
Venus is also in the picture, but it’s on the other side of the Sun from our point of view. That’s a Sun-Venus conjunction, but it’s called the exterior conjunction because Venus is ‘outside’ or on the other side of the Sun. (Astronomers call this the superior conjunction.) So there’s a row of planets strung like Christmas lights — Venus, Sun, Mercury, Earth. This is invisible to us because they are all so close to the Sun.
That means a lot of Leo conjunctions, one after the next. These are not ‘major’ conjunctions such as when very slow moving planets get together and shake up the whole world, but there is the feeling of a shuffle, a dance, a little chaos; there is an atmosphere of uncertainty in the air. Since the conjunctions involve the Sun, that’s about expression. Expression is always a little chaotic. This is illustrated in what is called the Sabian symbol for the degree, a little description of a scene that goes with each degree of the zodiac. For today’s conjunction, the degree is, “A person sitting in neglect of their body, totally concentrated on inner spiritual attainment.”
The creative process (in the symbol, described as ‘spiritual’ but it’s the same thing), which we think of as being designed to produce something beautiful, is inherently chaotic, at least for a while. This can be a difficult thing for ‘artists’ to relate to ‘non artists’. It’s more challenging for ‘non artists’ to let go of their sense of how the day, their mind or the flow of events is supposed to be ordered, and let go of control sufficiently to allow for a real creative flow. The insistence on order holds down creative energy. Gradually releasing that sense of control can and usually does open up the flow of creative energy.
But then some discipline is required to harness that energy and turn it into something useful or presentable. Which is more challenging, letting go of control to allow the energy, or creating the discipline to harness the energy? I’m going to take an educated guess and say that for most people the first one. Once you’ve opened up, it’s pretty easy to get some routines down that help you capture your energy in a useful form. But with all the control dramas and control issues that people out themselves and others through, and the rigid way in which society is (or tries to be) organized is the thing that gets in the way.
One of the interesting things about this grouping is that it’s trine Eris, one of the more recently discovered small planets going around our Sun. That’s in Aries, so while there is a shuffle in Leo, we’re talking to Eris in Aries (a trine usually connects points within the same element). Think of Eris as injecting a small dose of her tendency to disorder (which can be about identity) into the richly creative golden brew forming in Leo.
Speaking of gold, our friend Gary points out that based on traditional astrology, this alignment looks like some deep psychic alchemy — but it’s at the advanced stages. Something is coming together, some new elements of the psyche are forming, and from the looks of things it will focus into something new, letting off a bit of heat in the process. Speaking of heat, alchemy and a little chaos, the Moon will enter Aries tonight at 8:01 pm EDT, where it will pick up a highly energized Uranus — we will go over that in tomorrow’s edition.
Got a offer on our house Monday-counter offered. It was accepted and signed on Tuesday. Yay! Would’ve been happy to get what we know it’s worth but happy to get what we got and be able to move on!
Mercury Retrograde or Rue of Rues
Four days ago the disk drive of the computer began opening and closing spontaneously at unpredictable intervals, as it has continued to do so, sometimes for hours. The wheel is still in spin.
A regret,
a medicinal herb with bitter leaves,
the street where we tasted India, Pakistan, Africa, Turkey, France.
You entered me like the slow dissemination of the infinitesimal calculus;
If you keep moving halfway toward the wall, will you ever arrive?
I’d say for me, as an artist, creating the discipline is harder than letting go….but as I recently learned here, people with mercury retrograde natally march to a different drummer. But I am feeling this transit, I’ve got Aries, Leo, and Scorpio all going on talk about a complicated dance, thanks for the heads up!
The conjunctions are smack dab in the middle of my second house of Values and I find myself questioning what is valuable in my life.
The chaos is definitely felt! My day is going nowhere near to how I planned it but it’s working out better than I imagined.
I finally scheduled a tattoo I’ve wanted for years today. A pair of dolphins jumping through the waves. I always have loved how they go with the flow in such a playful manner!
Thank you, Carrie! 🙂
S x
Sarah,
Happy belated birthday and Uranus opposition!
Ceres is nearly conjunct my sun right now, and I’ve made sauerkraut this morning, thinking about my mother. No sauerkraut can match hers, but mine is darn close.
Creative – dreamed about serving a green onion on fine china last night – one nice sized green onion standing straight up from the plates, on an otherwise empty dining table (as in no food). Putting up food is hard work, but the dream told me to get to work. All that Leo energy is trine my venus in aries and I interpret that as being relative to my children in particular. Funny how all of it impacts each of us differently.
dreamastrologer,
I know what you mean about the problem correcting itself, but only after you become conscious of some message trying to get through. I’ve almost gotten used to that happening, but not quite.
I believe this is the day in the Mercury retrograde period that Phil Sedgwick says is okay to sign things; that the usual danger in having something not work out and having to redo it is not likely on the day Mercury conjuncts the Sun. Relief for those of you who can’t escape the necessity to start something new today. Any volunteers?
be
I have been feeling it too and writing like mad because of it. I know I “should” be doing other things to prepare for the upcoming start of school (for five of us) but instead I am feeling, emoting, writing and expressing myself. It may never lead to anything or it may lead to something; either way I feel impelled to do it and I cannot seem to stop the urge.
I hope it doesn’t stop when school starts; I would hate to stifle this.
this conjunction is very near my natal mercury-jupiter conjunction and i’m definitely feeling chaotic. the challenge is exactly what you describe, being comfortable with disorder…never easy for a virgo 😉 but things are definitely a’brewing in a big way. i feel like i’m breaking some self-imposed shackles (the subscriber edition was right on the mark!)
the retrograde is certainly adding a twist…last week i was looking for a sheet of notes on a new project and couldn’t find it for the life of me. these were notes on a plan i had hatched with a collaborator so…really frustrating. i felt deflated. then yesterday i found the notes – tacked to my bulletin board, hiding in plain sight!
Yeshe – I turned 40 last Sunday, and what I hear you describing in terms of the energy is what I’m feeling too. Something big is going down, I tell you!
The topic of my “morning pages” worth of writing was exactly this, but framed within the experience of BDSM. The paradox of being tied down with rope (giving up control), unleashes the flow of internal creative energy, sending one into a kaleidoscope of light, and bliss. Ancient techniques to safely disinhibit the inhibitions we normally carry and unleash the creative energy! Thanks for the validation. By the way my birthday is on Thursday – this Leo is loving the energy of my solar return and thanks for the great Leo reading.
“It’s more challenging for ‘non artists’ to let go of their sense of how the day, their mind or the flow of events is supposed to be ordered, and let go of control sufficiently to allow for a real creative flow. The insistence on order holds down creative energy. Gradually releasing that sense of control can and usually does open up the flow of creative energy.”
its so true, this mercury retrograde has provided me with a couple creative opportunities in the guise of electronic “problems” which disrupted the order of my routine tasks
its almost like there was an angel who wanted to whisper in my ear the next step to the creative process, but i had to stop plugging away like a robot in order to hear it!
and then of course, once i heard it, the strange electronic problem suddenly corrected itself and started working again 😉