She wore a white dress to the ball

Dear Friend and Reader:

On the night of the Inaugural Ball to celebrate the 44th president of the United States, Michelle Obama arrived wearing a white, off-the-shoulder dress. Reminiscent of both Jackie Kennedy and Nancy Reagan, yet echoing a touch of her own style, Mrs. Obama performed the task of many a queen before her: she communicated to the people through fashion. Juno follows the Sun as it has for about three months now, and Venus in conjoined with Uranus providing us with some powerful feminine archetypal energy which conjures up images of a queen, her duty to the people, and her relationship with art.

The Moon is in Sagittarius now, and will enter Capricorn tomorrow (Jan. 23) at 1:18 am EST. It’s headed towards New phase where it will join the Aquarian Sun in a annular eclipse on Jan. 26. Mercury continues its retrograde course through Capricorn.

To change the subject a bit, but not entirely, I have been thinking a lot about asteroid Juno. Since November 2008, she has been following the Sun very closely. In the chart of the Inauguration, she occupied the midheaven, a presiding queen in the celestial sphere. I am consciously using this flowerly language to describe Juno’s energy, because there really is something about her that suggests “holier than thou.” She is nowhere near as approachable as Venus, who makes it her business to be approached. Whereas Juno is lofty, given to challenges over her integrity, given to arguments and marriage-as-hostage-situations, Venus is attractive, pleasure minded, and loose. As women and men reading this, both of these archetypes are worth reconciling. But where do we see the friendly, sociable queen? The answer lies in fashion.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I love fashion. There is something so receptive and opinion inviting about clothes. Like the plumes of a peacock’s tail, clothing serves as a way to communicate. Opinion, status, health and personal choice all are folded up in the expressive quality of what we wear. The reactions we have over police officers and transvestites both are about the clothes. It’s likely that many of you out there are of the sentiment that whatever the First Lady wears is of no importance. To this I would ask: if a person dressed up as a mime starting talking to you, would you be a little surprised?

The importance of the First Lady is comparable to the importance of the historical queens. They are the icons of the culture they preside over. In very ancient times, the person the queen made love to was the king. We see this play out in the importance placed upon the marriage strategies of monarchies. We see it in the Arthurian legend in the form of Mordred kidnapping Guinivere. Why not hold Arthur hostage? Because the Queen is the icon of the country. As such, what she wears, who she buys from, who she sleeps with, what she won’t eat has serious symbolic value.

We are now in a time where we see the country in need of some help, and where some of us, and many more every day, have decided to devote their energy to this task. Asteroid Juno’s energy suggests the power of a woman in charge, and at the same time devoted to a promise. I would like to propose the dramatic sentiment that we are in a sense married to the country — even if it’s not the country of borders and accents and currency — it is certainly the country of the corn field, drinkable water, edible fish. Taking these things into consideration, I was not surprised to see Michelle Obama wearing white on the first night of her First Lady-dom. She looked like a bride on the stage at the Neighborhood Ball. In her image I heard the words of Queen Elizabeth when she declared she would never marry, for she was married to England.

Uranus and Venus suggests the awakening to crave empowered liberation and the chance to show off our arm muscles the same way Michelle Obama showed off her guns in her choice of a one strap dress. There was an Amazonian (as in the mythical race of warrior women) element to her attire, suggesting that yes, she was the new caretaker and it was going to be different this time.

The image of the waning Moon passing by Pluto, the planet of transformation, seems a powerful symbol of the times we are in. The New Moon is also called the Seed Moon, which implies a feeling of growth and new development. There is so much in this chart to suggest the transformation floating through the air like pollen, or, for those of you who are В housebound in the Northern Climes, snow dust. Uranus is applying a square to Pluto, which while becoming official in 2012, has begun to resonate within orb now. When the square does become undeniably active, Uranus will be in Aries. Saturn is approaching the final degrees of Virgo, edging closer to Libra. The movements of these planets are slow and therefore they represent the procession of generations on Earth. They are headed for the cardinal signs of the zodiac, which spells out change on a large scale.

I think that these forces combined have given us the picture of a woman ready to roll up her sleeves and get to the business of building a future based on her preferences and her choices. I heard that in the White House, Michelle has already asked the orderlies to let the little girls make their own beds. When tradition is coupled with innovation it’s sure to grow into something strong.

Til next time,

Genevieve Salerno