Are We There Yet?

By Len Wallick

It’s Monday. Take a breath, a long one. Take a minute to look away from the computer monitor at something far away, ideally through a window, then please come back.

Now that you have paused for some perspective in the body, please, let’s do the same with astrology. Pluto will transit Capricorn for a decade and a half. This is just the beginning. By the time Pluto makes ingress into Aquarius (in 2023) the world, for most of us still present, will be a very different place: a process made of many, many small changes and some very large ones.

Saturn in Libra lasts two years. As with Pluto, this we are at the beginning, though of a much shorter process: but one impressively tense and urgent. Saturn will square Pluto again soon, and again after that. Meanwhile it has two more oppositions with Uranus, once when this retrograde takes it back to Virgo and once when it returns to Libra.

Jupiter is direct in Pisces and will remain so until it joins Uranus in Aries this coming June. Shortly thereafter these four will dance into a t-square in three of the cardinal signs. Lose not sight of these things. Upon this framework will the ephemera of the year be woven.

This week has its own long view. It ends with the month on a Full Moon in Leo that will be conjunct (to the degree) with retrograde Mars. More on that as we approach it, but, once again, keep an eye on it. Something precipitates with this Full Moon; it’s like it falls out of the sky, out of nowhere.

Today, the Sun, in the sixth degree of Aquarius is still functionally in trine (120 degrees of separation) with Saturn: that’s a moment to breathe, and to make friends with the new structures of our lives. This aspect extends and continues the energy signature of Capricorn though Sol be gone from there nearly a week. This is something we saw coming. Capricorn and Aquarius share the same original planetary ruler – Saturn. Fixed signs tend to crystallize the energy of the cardinal signs that precede them. The New Moon (still taking place late in the sign) was potentiated by the longest annular solar eclipse of this new millennium.

So, will it feel like Capricorn forever? No. Though Pluto be long there, we are nearly through its twilight effect. It started with the ingress of Venus into Aquarius last week when you may have felt something lighten. The turnaround continues today when the Moon swings into Gemini to complete a grand air trine with the Sun and Saturn. This aspect will literally enlighten the Ringed Lord on the difference between its two children, but there is one more thing that will bring us back to our theme for the day.

Luna, just past the first quarter (and on the way to that Full Moon we are keeping an eye on) serendipitously conjoins an asteroid shortly after perfecting this trine. The myth behind this asteroid will help us bring together what we have just broken down and help us to focus through to the rewards at the end of what promises to be a challenging week.

Cast from Mount Olympus by Zeus himself, he was broken and crippled when he hit the ground three days later. Under the protection of two goddesses he worked in a cave for nine years, perfecting the powers of transforming metal with fire. Though deformed in body, his skills restored him to a place on Olympus where (among other things) he made Jupiter’s lightning bolts and constructed houses for the immortals (with locks that even a god could not jimmy).

When faced with an epic setback, he remained accepting of himself. He then accepted the care and protection of friends. He took the long view and remained focused throughout. He made a destructive force (fire) his servant. He mastered the magical art of transforming the raw earth into refined metal. He taught himself to be constructive and creative and in doing so re-created himself. Though he was not presentable by Olympian standards, he earned a place there on his own merits.

Because it is a near-earth asteroid with an elongate orbit, Hephaistos is in Gemini more often than not. There, it links to the Aquarian ambiance through communication that addresses the broader collective, talking about “us” and refraining from bringing critical attention to “me”. It links to the energy of Libra through equitable give and take with no grudge. It transcends away from what Capricorn has become to what Aquarius will be by bringing the manifestation of transformation out of the cave to the top of the mountain.

So, each of us and all of us can take a cue. We can keep the big picture in mind. We can be focused on taking responsibility and being creative. We can render service as a form of self-validation. We can deal with respond to daily challenges as part of a bigger endeavor. We can move through the week with awareness and be apart of what happens rather than allowing it to happen to us.

Offered in Service