We’re in an unusual moment of two conjunctions to centaur planets in the same week. Today, Mars is conjunct Chiron in Pisces for the first time in nearly 50 years, and Thursday, the Sun is conjunct Nessus in Aquarius. The Sun and Mars are masculine or yang factors in astrology; both describe transformation processes and, because they are so different, there’s palpable tension between them.
To me, these events describe two ends of a spectrum of experience. They both involve centaur planets, which by their nature transgress boundaries — they cross the orbits of larger planets, though their orbits are controlled by those larger planets. I see their action as a necessary pressure vent, agents of change or something that points out what is otherwise difficult to see.
Let’s consider Sun-Nessus in Aquarius first. This one has been brewing for a while, and Sunday morning’s New Moon brought it into focus. Nessus in Aquarius describes the shadow side of that sign, which is about conformity. We say it’s about groups, but groups by their nature are about belonging, and where there’s an in-group you can be sure there’s an out-group. Collections of people have certain patterns that create these situations, some of which are visible, but most often to outsiders.
This is less about the nature of Aquarius itself and more about the nature of what it describes — the ways that social patterns develop. Sun-Nessus is on one level an invitation to see how groups of perfectly reasonable individuals can do perfectly heinous things, with one another’s support, and when they are willing to give their power to a collective. When you see one person after another get up onto the witness stand or go before Congress or get on television and lie about their motives and their actions, that’s what you’re seeing in action.
One example of this is when not one person in the media will break consensus — for example, it seems like everyone but people on TV knows there’s a problem with the official story of 9/11. But the talking heads keep a straight face and go on to the next story.