By Len Wallick
Late last week, Venus moved into Capricorn, a sign ruled by Saturn. For some time, the Ringed One has been in Libra, a sign ruled by Venus. This sort of relationship is called mutual reception — when two planets are in each other’s signs of rulership. For the better part of this century, some, but not all astrologers have been interpreting Uranus and Neptune to be in the same sort of arrangement. These pairings, along with a telling aspect for Venus tomorrow, will be the subject of today’s blog.
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When mutual reception takes place, there are a couple of common interpretations. One is that the planets involved may take on some of each other’s characteristics. Another is that the objects may reinforce or otherwise assist each other. Today’s comparisons suggest that it may not be so simple as that. The basic principles of astrology, like everything else right now, are up for revision or validation as part and parcel of the cardinal point aspects of the outer planets.
Currently, Uranus is winding up its seven year tenure in Pisces before moving on to Aries. There it will resume a long series of cardinal squares with Pluto. If history is any indication, the aspects between those two planets — immovable object meeting irresistible force — will herald both personal and political transitions on a scale not often seen. As a part of human history, astrology is as subject to that process as anything else. Neptune, for its part, is entering the early stages of its own sign-changing process after being in Aquarius since 1998.
For the thousands of years before the invention of telescopes and calculus, Jupiter was the traditional ruler of Pisces with Saturn the same for Aquarius. Just over two hundred years ago, things started to change. Our ability to observe things very far away suddenly improved. Concurrent with that came an enhanced ability to make sense of those observations and even predict them, through the use of higher mathematics. The discoveries that came about led to an increase in information, leading in turn to more discoveries in an ever-accelerating cycle that continues to this day.
Astrology was caught in a bind. On the one hand, it would not make any sense to simply ignore the awareness of new planets that were very large and distinctive. On the other hand, there was not the time to develop the tradition of consensus over many generations of experience as had been the case previously. It was thus that a new and somewhat arbitrary process took over. This was not necessarily a bad thing, but it was a departure. The process of what opinion would prevail became, like history, much more a matter of mastering the dissemination of information than a process of accumulated experience and proficiency. We are coming to a point now that new processes of assigning rulership is up for evaluation. Every one of you reading this is being invited to take a part in that. Your faithful correspondent will not venture to tell you what to think about something of such import.
This is not to say that assigning the rulership of Pisces to Neptune and Uranus and Aquarius does not make any sense. Over the decades since science weighed in, we have had repeated and consistent occasion to appreciate how the characteristics of these two relatively new planets match up with the ambiance of the last two signs. Since there are apparently no humans whose lives have spanned the period from the late 1700’s to the present, a nagging question is begged. In the last several centuries, to what extent is the non-traditional affinity between sign and ruling planet attributed to demonstrable evidence and to what degree is it how human consciousness has changed? We will probably never know and it probably does not matter.
What we do know is that we have some new tools to work with and that those tools are not without their usefulness. But it does not stop there. There is more to the phenomenon of mutual reception than two planets occupying the sign of each other’s rulership. It is also a matter of how comfortable each planet is and their aspect to each other. In the present case of Uranus and Neptune, they are in adjacent signs. The implied relationship is thus a semi-sextile, or separation of 30 degrees. In practice it can and will be more or less than that, within limits. Those boundaries, however, do not extend to 60 degrees. The problem is that many astrologers do not consider any separation of less than 60 degrees to be a major, heavyweight aspect.
Let’s use a simplified example to illustrate. Think of mutual reception as you trading homes with a friend for a while. As a part of that trade, you find yourself in a different environment that includes, say, eating the food and using the toiletries that your friend left behind. If the two residences are close together and your lifestyle is similar to your friend’s, the adjustment is not as great. That would be more like a minor aspect. If your friend’s home was far away in a different culture and with different food, the required degree of adaption would be more pronounced. There is also the consideration of how long the arrangement lasts.
That’s where the mutual reception between Venus and Saturn comes in. Taking place in cardinal signs, the implied separation is in the range of 90 degrees. That’s a square and a major aspect in anybody’s book, connecting with the current epoch-making placement of the planets. Given that Venus currently has an apparent motion of over a degree a day, the relationship will not be of long duration. The upshot is that, in comparing and contrasting these two very different cases of mutual reception, we are presented with an opportunity to be instructed. It is, if you will, a teaching moment.
The remaining month or so of Uranus in Pisces will provide us with the chance to evaluate just how much it has made that sign its home and to what extent it has taken on Neptune’s identity. This should become evident in the corresponding events that synchronize with a second and final ingress to Aries.
The same can be said for Neptune. How will its expression change after leaving Aquarius for Pisces? How will its expression change after the sign of its modern deposition is vacated by Uranus, its receptive counterpart? At the very least, we will get a better idea of how appropriate the modern designations of rulership are for the last two signs of the zodiac. That places the current relationship between Uranus and Neptune into resonance with the big picture of the astrology of our time. Previously accepted patterns are being tested on every level. The result of those tests will contribute to either the strengthening of those templates or the transition to new forms more appropriate to what appears to be a new epoch.
Taking that down to a more accessible and immediate level will be Venus. Tomorrow, our education in its shorter-lived but more acute mutual reception with Saturn will begin when Venus conjoins Vesta in Capricorn. This merger of generous abundance with passionate devotion should have a palpable manifestation on the personal level for us. To what extent that translates to the trans-personal will give us a read on Saturn’s influence. What’s more, it will set the stage for what seems to be a more political conjunction with Pluto on the following day. That is where we will take up on Thursday.
Offered In Service
Very interesting indeed, Len, thank you, and all the comments as well.
Ah.. the more i learn the less i think i know..
astrology seems to be getting further and further beyond my grasp…
Oh, goodness, BE … when I think back at the time spent erecting a chart by hand, the math, the drawing! It’s a wonderment how quickly all that can be bypassed today. But then, as Seth would say, it’s all holographic … although I’m not sure we used that word back then.
Great, as usual Len. Thank you.
aword – Yes! Precisely! Well put as always. Thank you.
be,
Thank you. Your response shows that you get the point thoroughly and completely and that’s nice to know. It is indeed ironic that more (astrologers) is less (free time). Even more counter-intuitive is that one solution is to have everyone be an active, participating astrologer, forming the art as we form our language(s).
I do know that as a new young’un when it comes to actually understanding a bit of this astro stuff (not interest mind you – that goes back to childhood – but this learning place called internet and specifically Planet Waves has given me a place to stufy and learn this subject always so close to my heart.)
Anyway, I have found that as general principle in life it makes sense to stop and clear the clutter, so going “back to basics” and looking at a chart from it’s simplest perspective helps tremendously with the learning.
And those traditional rulerships can make all the difference. Like if we see Jupiter ruling Pisces, then suddenly I have a lovely connection between natal Jupter on IC at 1Scorpio and Natal Sun at Pisces 2. And an equally lovely connection between Saturn at 24 Sag and Mercury at 24 Aquarius.
So it goes both ways – old to new and back again. A loop. Cycles. Life-like.
Thanks Len (And Be!) as always, really good stuff.
Over and Out,
Moo……….n.
Hi Len,
What a topic! Personally, I find it quite captivating. I started the study of astrology in 1974, when Jupiter was in Pisces and Neptune was in Sagittarius! From what I read, there was a large growth in the number of astrology students during that time. I have come to believe that the volume of astrologers these days is partly to compensate for the speedier times we live in, compared to when there were fewer astrologers and fewer tools to facilitate the study.
Whereas back then, one astrologer gained his wisdom over years of experience and more free time to do it, now there are many astrologers, with less free time, but the tools to speed up, for example, the process of creating a chart, learning new information, and most of all, sharing their experiences with many other astrologers. The many parts of a whole, so to speak.
For this reason, I have no problem with the new planets being assigned rulership, or co-rulership of Aquarius and Pisces. Like everything else in transition, we human beings are at different levels of receptivity to the changes. For whatever reason, our different stages or levels of consciousness, or sensitivity, or acceptance of any and all changes going on in our world, largely determine how we perceive the energies of these two signs; either the Jupiter-Saturn level, or the Neptune-Uranus level, and/or a bit of one and a bit of the other.
Because I have Pisces rising, I’m taking both because of transits to (natal) and from (transiting) Neptune that have been experienced through the first house of my chart. But then, Jupiter is in the 1st house, large and in charge, and Jupiter transits also affect me via 1st house experiences as well as 10 house experiences. To further fog the differences, my Neptune is opposite my ascendant, so what I perceive as Neptunian could be an aspect to Neptune rather than my ascendant. Fortunately, I have 9 years before trans. Neptune gets up close and personal with either one!
The effects of a mutual reception could also be the reason for the many astrologers now and the many more who have access to them. Centuries ago, only the royalty and wealthy had access to astrologers, and not all of them shared their info with one another I’m sure. With massive data now available, I’m sure one day there will be statistics as to how Neptune’s experience of being in Aquarius when Uranus was in Pisces and when it wasn’t , and vice verse, will be made available for comparison. I like to think that somehow the transits of both planets to each other’s signs, very often in the same degrees even, were pretty much joined at the hip; a double-dose of their energies or another speeding up of mass consciousness growth. What didn’t get a person’s attention in the Neptune/Aquarius part of their life would surely get them in their Uranus/Pisces! Time is of the consequence and the more who make the shift, the more sucessful the outcome. Thanks for such an interesting subject today Len.
be