Yearly Archives: 2011

Weekly Forecast March 14: Full Moon in Virgo, Sun Enters Aries

There's nothing like late-winter rain to clear the way for new growth in spring. © Pat Paquette 2011.


In light of the unimaginable devastation in Japan, it’s hard to write a forecast about the intensity of the next couple of weeks. One wonders how things could get any worse.

The one thing I find reassuring is that, as we saw during last year’s peak cardinal T-square period, events usually don’t happen on the dates when astrological aspects are exact. Often there’s a “trigger,” such as Mars passing over a critical degree, and events even can happen before the corresponding astrological signature. You’ll recall that I linked the mega-quake in Chile last February to an eclipse that hadn’t happened yet.

Still, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about what’s coming up, starting with this week’s Full Moon. At 29 degrees Virgo, this Full Moon is in a close square to the powerful lunar eclipse on December 21, 2010. Eclipse-related events can happen within a couple days but often are delayed by 30, 60 or 90 days. The 90-day mark is the square, 90 degrees.

A few hours after the December eclipse, the Sun entered Capricorn, the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. Likewise, the Sun enters Aries a day after this Full Moon, marking the spring equinox and the beginning of the astrological year. The transition from the last degree of a mutable sign to the first degree of a cardinal sign signals clearing away the old, outdated and unsustainable in order to begin a new growth cycle. This is especially true with Jupiter, planet of growth and expansion, in cardinal Aries.

Taking the week in chronological order, we begin Monday with the Moon in cardinal Cancer, the sign she rules. As she forms squares with Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn throughout the day, you may get a further glimpse into a new chapter in your life that began to unfold during last summer’s T-square.

Also on Monday, Venus and Saturn form a trine in air signs Aquarius and Libra. This combination favors coming up with solutions to old problems that are innovative – perhaps even radical – and yet balanced and realistic. If you’re facing a particular challenge in need of sound thinking and strategizing, this is your moment.

On Tuesday, Mercury conjoins Jupiter in Aries, bringing the message home that change not only is necessary but inevitable. However, it won’t come without some stops and starts, as Mercury enters his pre-retrograde shadow period on Wednesday in preparation to reverse motion on March 30. This means he’ll make two more conjunctions with Jupiter, on April 11 and then again on May 11. I don’t expect that issues you encounter on Tuesday will be new, but you may suddenly realize you have to change your approach.

On Friday, Mercury opposes Saturn, which injects a dose of reality into your thinking. Although this can be discouraging, it’s better to know what you’re dealing with so that you can plan accordingly. A solid plan might even help you get through the fits and starts of Mercury retrograde.

Saturday is the Full Moon in Virgo, which is going to be heavily laden with messages of letting go, cleaning up, leaving the past behind, and preparing for a new way of living, being, and doing. There won’t be time for long good-byes. The Sun enters Aries the following day, and again we head out on the next leg of our journey into new and unfamiliar territory.

Much love and courage to all,
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Weekly Forecast March 7: Uranus Enters Aries

These babes have it right. The farmer rotates them about the neighborhood, where they mow overgrown grass for free and leave top-rate fertilizer. © Pat Paquette 2011.

The past three days have been a blur. A lot is happening, and it seems as though it’s not in chronological order – like reading an article on the Internet and clicking on links to other places. Everything’s connected, but trying to experience it all at once makes your head spin.

“Everything’s connected” is a very Piscean message, and feeling that connection is a very Piscean experience. More and more people are getting it, and it is changing the energy of the planet. We finally are starting to understand that we live in a participatory universe. Our interaction with the cosmos is a continual cycle of uploading and downloading. It’s no accident that the Internet evolved as it did. It simply mirrors larger energy patterns, what some call the “mind of God.” Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast February 28: Venus Enters Aquarius, New Moon in Pisces

The violent side of Pisces. © Verners Verzbilovskis for Dreamstime.com

We knew we were in for another round of the cardinal T-square this year, but I didn’t think we’d start seeing any real effects until Uranus entered Aries in mid-March.

So, it would seem like all hell is breaking loose again, with a strong pattern of authoritarian rule (Pluto) suppressing rebellion. The Jupiter-Pluto square is implicated, but only if you put it in the context of the ongoing T-square.

We also need to remember the rare lunar eclipse that occurred on December 21, 2010, just hours before the Sun entered Capricorn. With the Sun at 29 degrees Sagittarius, the eclipse was close enough to 0 degrees Capricorn to be included in this power game. Jupiter and Uranus were both back in late Pisces at the time, having dipped briefly into Aries over the summer before turning retrograde. Jupiter is now well beyond his retrograde point, and Uranus is sitting at 29 Pisces, the final degree of the zodiac, ready to enter Aries on March 11. Although he’s not in Aries yet, he is in a near-exact square with the solstice eclipse, so we’re feeling this forceful energy.

Often, earth events correspond to eclipses, although not necessarily at the time. I tied last year’s mega-quake in Chili to an eclipse that hadn’t happened yet. So last week’s tragic earthquake in New Zealand can’t be attributed to the Jupiter-Pluto square.

Other events, however, can. The two that come immediately to mind are the civil war in Libya and the showdown in Madison, Wis., over workers’ rights. In both cases, an authoritarian ruler is suppressing opposition. It doesn’t seem to me that there’s much difference in principle between Moammar Gadhafi’s vow to fight to the last bullet and Gov. Scott Walker’s vow to bust the unions regardless of massive protests at the Wisconsin Capitol and other cities across the country. Tyranny has many faces.

I’m encouraged by the protests, as people finally are willing to fight for their rights. A while back, I lamented in a post that I didn’t know what it would take to get Americans out in the streets, the way citizens in Europe and other countries do. Well, now we know, and I’m gratified the trigger is as substantial as workers’ rights. Unionized labor has a long history in this country. Assaulting these basic rights is a hostile act, the first shot in a class war that has been brewing for years.

In an article for CounterPunch, author Andrew Levine writes, “The problem, in short, is that to survive, capitalism must expand – and, with so few areas left for expansion, the public sphere has become a target too tempting to resist. What is under attack is the public sphere itself. Public unions are its first (and last?) line of defense.”

Another headline grabbed my attention this past week, about a landmark decision handed down in a class action suit against Chevron in Ecuador. What struck me most was the name leading the list of plaintiffs. Maria Aguinda is a grandmother, an indigenous villager fighting a giant multinational oil company. I immediately looked for Ceres in the chart. Sure enough, Ceres was in Aries opposite Jupiter when the first version of the lawsuit was filed in November 1993. Ceres was conjunct Pluto in Capricorn at the peak of last year’s T-square.

This week, there are yet more shifts. On Tuesday, Venus enters Aquarius, sign of rebellion and human rights. Just before making her move, she sextiles Uranus, ruler of Aquarius. I’m hopeful that this transit will bring some resolution into conflicts worldwide. It may be too late in Libya, where so much blood has been shed already, but there’s still an opportunity for legislators in Wisconsin to do the right thing by compromising.

On Thursday, the lunar North Node leaves Capricorn and enters Sagittarius. At 29 degrees Sagittarius/Gemini, the nodes will be at the degree of the solstice eclipse, further activating this critical degree. The North Node also will begin approaching conjunction with the Galactic Center, which will be exact at the end of March. I’ll have more on this development, which I believe will create another portal for mass awakening.

Also on Thursday, Mars forms a compatible sextile with Pluto. This pair offers yet another possibility for working hard to reach a compromise or, if that’s not possible, for the losing side to accept defeat and regroup to form a new strategy.

Friday is the New Moon in Pisces. The planets are all bunched on one side of the chart, with Saturn on the other side (view chart here). As the singleton planet, Saturn has a powerful influence, and he’s at an irritating inconjunct with the Sun and Moon. Even though he’s retrograde, Saturn is exalted in Libra, the sign of fairness and balance. As much as we may wish to have things our way or fantasize about how we would like them to be, we’re going to have to get real, act on our own behalf, and do what’s necessary to maintain our integrity.

Speaking of which, I’m still working to catch up with my backlog of consultations, so I won’t have a New Moon post this week. I know many of you have been searching for them, but I’ve had to set priorities, and my first duty is to my paying clients. If I were independently wealthy or won the lottery, there’s nothing I’d love better than to write blog posts every day. Unfortunately, that’s not my reality, and so I will post as I can, between writing reports and meeting life’s demands.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Pisces-Virgo: Completing the Age of Spiritual Redemption, Part II

© Vilmos Varga for Dreamstime.com

In Part I we began to review the current Piscean Age and ponder what we have really learned of the higher spiritual potential of Pisces. Here we explore why Pisces is also the sign of self-sacrifice, and what this really means in terms of our spiritual journey.

As the last of the 12 Zodiac signs and 12 developmental stages in human consciousness, Pisces is the most mysterious of all and the most difficult for us to comprehend from our current state of consciousness.

With our minds as fogged as they are by ignorance, delusion and illusion, it is little wonder that our current idea of self-sacrifice is itself a misconception. Self-sacrifice does not mean we are either a victim or martyr who has to continually neglect our own needs to defer to the whims of others. This is a false understanding so typical of this Piscean Age.

To deepen our understanding, we need to use the discernment of Pisces’ opposite sign Virgo* to bring order to the confusion and chaos of Pisces. Virgo discernment would have us analyse: what is self-sacrifice? Is our understanding correct?

If we look deeply in analysis, we discover that the word sacrifice comes from “sacrify” – to make sacred. What does it mean to make something sacred? It means to spiritualise something: bring Spirit, Divinity, or God into it. To allow that which is holy (or whole) to prevail. The true path of self-sacrifice, which is the higher vibration of Pisces, means recognition of our sacred self: our “Higher Self” or Soul. To really come to know this truth for ourselves, we need to analyse the nature of our Self, by going deeply into our inner journey, until we recognise our own Soul.

[quote cite=”Byron Katie”]Who would you be without your story?[/quote]

When we let go of the false self that we project from ego-personality, we realize the true path of Pisces: oneness with “all that is.” This is a process of recognizing that which already is; when we let go of fantasy, on all levels, we begin to see the underlying reality. The truth is that we are already sacred, and it is our own mental “fantasies,” our strong attachment to mental concepts, that keep us from recognizing that fact. Our strong attachment to our ego-identity (who we think we are) blinds us to the reality of who we really are. The difference is one of believing in something we have never experienced, versus really knowing the truth for ourselves.

[quote cite=”Osho”]Belief is always shaky, afraid, because deep down you are aware that you don’t know: it may be right, it may not be.[/quote]

The role Virgo plays in this process is vital, because the higher Virgo vibration infuses physical matter with Divine Love. Think of the Virgo herbalist who pours loving energy into her herb garden. Eileen Caddy, co-founder of the Findhorn Spiritual Community in Scotland (and a Virgo Soul) would often speak of “flowing love radiances” into her work and garden. For a Virgo Soul, Love is not an abstract mental concept but a very real physical energy that is to be poured into the physical realm to promote healing.

[quote cite=”Anya Sophia Mann”]We are all flow-ers of energy.[/quote]

Knowing how to flow our energy in beneficial ways is a skill that comes with deep awareness of our underlying true nature as Divine energy Beings. This knowing comes from lifetimes of spiritual practice, leading to grounded, practical, spiritual experience, and not from the imagination. Virgo invites us into deeper, practical, spiritual practices such as Yoga to deepen our inner knowing.

Discernment allows us to tell the difference between belief based on fantasy, or an idea we have heard about, and spiritual truth based on our own experience. There is a difference between imagining we are flowing love (Pisces) and really flowing it (Virgo)! The personality-centred romantic love of the Piscean Age is really about being “in love with an idea of love.” It is a fantasy that is far removed from the reality of Love. It is necessary that this brings dis-illusionment; otherwise we would never be motivated to seek and find higher Love.

The path of Virgo brings necessary dis-illusionment as it dissolves lower Piscean illusion through deeper analysis. This releases the grip of fantasy and allows higher Piscean connection to very real, Divine, energy. The highest spiritual message of Virgo teaches us that when we bring our awareness to something, we access the highest Divine qualities of Pisces. This allows us to bring a real loving energy to whatever we place our attention on which, in turn, brings healing:

[quote cite=” Jack Kornfield”]When we honor the body with our attention, we begin to reclaim our feelings, our instincts, our life… opening the heart begins by opening to a lifetime’s accumulation of unacknowledged sorrow…[/quote]

All are paths leading us within, to discover Divine Union and oneness, through experiencing our personal healing journey. Thereby discovering our inner Self, which is connected, “holy” (whole) and not separate from Divinity. As Aries begins the outward journey as “a point of light in the mind of God”, the journey of Pisces ultimately represents our returning.** Our spiritual homecoming. This is the true path of Pisces-Virgo-Pisces.

[headline h=”5″]Sin and Redemption[/headline]

Spiritual leaders of the Piscean Age have been emphatic that we understand the concepts of sin and redemption, but why? Why are they particularly Piscean themes? The English word “sin” was translated from the original Greek word Harmartia, which literally means “missing the mark.” The more we try to live up to a manmade idea of who we should be (trapped in a glamour-fantasy) the more we miss the point of who we really are underneath. The word redemption means “re-claiming.” In theological terms, “redemption” is a metaphor for what is achieved through “atonement” or “at-one-ment.” It simply means re-claiming who we really are.

In other words when we let go of the struggle and pretence of trying to be what we’re not (the “sin” or mistaken illusory self), we can get down to the very real business of being who we are (redemption).

[headline h=”5″]Pisces and the Mystery of the Sacred Heart[/headline]

Through the path of Virgo, we will discover the highest truth of Pisces: the mystery of the Sacred Heart. Once we have discovered, through our own experience, the truth of ourselves as living Souls, we begin to flow our energy differently into the world. Through conscious connection with our “Sacred Self,” we activate the Sacred Heart energy. In Esoteric Astrology,** Pisces is known as the sign of the “World Savior.” The deepest mystery of all is how this comes about. The world is “saved” once our collective Sacred Heart is activated and the whole of humanity’s hearts beat together as “one heart.”

As this Piscean Age comes to completion, we can at one and the same time see both the results of our missing the point (in terms of increased suffering) and the simultaneous awakening of a collective heart-centred humanity. Author Gregg Braden*** has written much about the potential of the human heart to influence the magnetic field of our planet and affect our climate. He is a great advocate of the Global Coherence Initiative, the aim of which is to “unite people in heart-focused care and intention, to facilitate the shift in global consciousness from instability and discord to balance, cooperation and enduring peace.”

We are living on the cusp; as the seeds of the new age are being planted, we also are experiencing the fruits of the closing age. It is a time of overlap – yes, we’re planting seeds for the Aquarian Age, and we are also reaping the “good” with the “bad” of what we sowed in the Piscean Age. The choice is ours. Our future depends on our ability to choose where we place our attention, and that requires the discernment and concentration of Virgo.

We have an amazing opportunity, and given that we still have another 150 years or so, there is still time. We need not “miss the mark.” All is not lost. Setting all our mistakes and misperceptions aside, we can still reap a beautiful harvest from this Piscean Age, if we utilize the practical energy and discernment of Virgo to look deeply within and recognise the truth of our own Being.

We still have an opportunity to experience the reality of Divine Union. If this is to come to fruition, we need to get real, use discernment and choose wisely to focus our energy on our inner experience, our heart-centredness and our Soul awakening.


Ruth

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Footnotes:
* The opposite sign is Nature’s medicine that stops us polarizing to the egoic extreme of any sign. See footnote at the bottom of Part I for a complete explanation.

** Esoteric Astrology (1951), by Alice Bailey. Lucis Press, London. The work of The Tibetan (Master DK) as channeled through Alice Bailey.

*** Fractal Time: The Secret of 2012 and a New World Age (2009) Gregg Braden. Hay House, Carlsbad.

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Ruth Hadikin, Soul Astrologer

Ruth Hadikin – Soul Astrologer

To get your personal Soul Sign/Life Purpose Report (FREE with a consultation), contact Ruth via her website. You can also request a FREE mp3 download, “The Energetics of Soul Astrology.”

Follow Ruth:

Pisces-Virgo: Completing the Age of Spiritual Redemption, Part I

In today’s post, Ruth continues her series on the meaning of the sign pairs from the perspective of Soul Astrology. As some of you may recall, my old blog was called The Pisces Chronicles, so I am particularly interested in Ruth’s take on the Age of Pisces! ~Pat

© Vilmos Varga for Dreamstime.com

We are coming to the end of the Piscean Age, which began around 1 AD. Each astrological age lasts around 2,160 years, so while we are indeed on the “cusp” of the coming Aquarian Age, we have about 150 years of Piscean influence yet to contend with.

Since we are at the climax, it makes sense to reflect on our track record over the past 2,000 years and see what this Piscean Age has been about – in particular, in terms of our collective spiritual growth and what we can still redeem from it.

Pisces is the sign of “poets and dreamers.” Its strong connection with the realm of imagination means it is also associated with suffering, delusion and self-sacrifice, mystery, secrets, illusion, self-delusion and escapism.

Alice Bailey, in Esoteric Astrology, also refers to this time as an Age of Glamour. We are so easily fooled by glamour; anything glamorous dazzles and enthralls us. As a society, we are willing to pay anything for a dream and neglect what is real. The movie industry captures the mood of our time, and this is illustrated by how much we are willing to pay celebrities to look good, while we are content that practical workers who contribute something real and tangible in the world, including teachers, nurses and health workers, can barely pay their mortgages.

This is the Piscean Age in a nutshell: trying to make a dream real, while ignoring the underlying practical reality. It is an age of denial and fantasy. We are so hooked on glamour that we have completely lost sight of the underlying reality, which is why we don’t experience the degree of spiritual connectedness that our ancient ancestors did. Being held in a hypnotic trance by glamour actually prevents us from connecting with what is real.

[quote cite=”Kalu Rinpoche”] You live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a reality, but you do not know this. When you understand this, you will see that you are nothing, and being nothing you are everything. That is all.[/quote]

As we collectively journey through this cusp of Ages from Pisces to Aquarius, it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to tell fact from fantasy, and this gets us into big trouble! This is where we need the discernment of Pisces’ opposite sign: Virgo*. Just as the qualities of Aquarius’ opposite sign Leo will awaken us to the higher potential of the Aquarian Age, so it will be through embracing Virgoan energy and qualities that we will collectively awaken and break free from the powerful grip of Piscean daydreaming and “get real” to the higher Piscean potential of our spiritual reality.

The discernment of Virgo leads us away from a lower Piscean consciousness of imaginary (fantasized) spiritual ideals, and brings us closer to a real awareness of spiritual truth. It is not through denying reality that we will come to recognise the truth of our Being, but through accepting and analyzing our reality, in a very deep Virgoan way.

While Pisces is dazzled by image, Virgo challenges us to go deeper and find substance. We come to know for ourselves, in spiritual terms, what is real and what isn’t. Once illusion and delusions have dissolved, the higher Piscean consciousness knows itself to be “at one” with all that is, as a result of very real, substantial direct experience.

As we close out this Piscean Age, we are living with the consequences of clinging to fantasized ideals, while failing to look deeper into the truth of our being: our spiritual reality. A look back over the last 2,000 years of war, strife, terror, violence and torture, and we can easily see why this Piscean Age is one of suffering. This daydream is really a nightmare that we need to wake up from.

[quote cite=”Gregg Braden, Fractal Time”]The 20th century witnessed the greatest suffering, with the greatest number of lives lost at the hands of other humans, in the entire history of the species.[/quote]

This fact reveals the depth of our collective delusion: we think of ourselves as the most advanced of all societies, and yet this is the harsh reality of our legacy. This seems so removed from enlightenment that one may be forgiven for having doubts if we are even spiritually evolving at all. Individuals with a strong Pisces influence are all too aware of the suffering in the world, and may turn to all manner of escapism, food, alcohol, drugs, movies, games – you name it, we’ll try anything to avoid having to face reality. On one level it is actually understandable, the degree of suffering in this world is overwhelming; yet it is all the result of an obsession with, and inability to free ourselves from, the power of our own imagination.

The key to the “mind’s true liberation” (the promise of the coming Aquarian Age) lies in understanding the deeper mysteries of Pisces, including what suffering and self-sacrifice are really about, from a spiritual perspective. But how? This is where the discernment, deep analysis and healing energy of Virgo is needed.

We are evolving in consciousness and we are actually just a quantum leap away from having the consciousness to comprehend the higher vibration, the true spiritual aspect, of Pisces. The 12 zodiac signs are actually 12 Divine intelligences, or “intelligent energies.” Their influence upon us depends also upon our degree of openness and consciousness.

At its purest expression, Piscean energy opens us up to a real experience of our own Divinity: one-ness with all that is through an individual experience of the Divine. At its lowest interpretation, filtered through a “foggy, confused” human mind, it stimulates imagination, paranoia, and leads us into fearful imaginary realms with the painful repercussions of illusory thinking. Make no mistake, I am not suggesting that we are imagining our pain. Sadly, our pain and suffering are very, very real.

The important spiritual lesson of Pisces is that our suffering is real, even though the cause may be an illusion (a mistake, or a lie).

For example, you walk into a room and see a poisonous snake in your bed. You experience the very real physiological effects of terror. You are shaking, your mouth is dry, meanwhile your hands are dripping with sweat, and your heart is racing so fast you might just have a heart attack or a stroke. All of this is very, very real. The suffering is real. Then you put the light on, and realize there never was a snake, it was a cord that had fallen off the curtains. Of course you feel relief now, but at the time your suffering was very real – so real it could have killed you – and yet it was all based on an illusion and not on an accurate perception of reality.

The Piscean Age has been one of suffering through fear and terror. Real fear and real terror, based on illusion. The spiritual message of Pisces is that when we fail to perceive our reality correctly, fear and terror result. The solution is to return to wholeness, using the discernment of Virgo to perceive the whole of our reality, as it actually is. On a deeper spiritual level, Virgo knows that all matter is spirit in physical form. As we continue living through the cusp of Ages, we’d be wise to remember it.

In Part II, we’ll look at the deeper spiritual significance of Pisces, in particular what “self-sacrifice” really means, and say more about why Pisces’ opposite sign of Virgo is so important.


Ruth

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* The opposite pole of any sign is a spiritual “gateway” in the sense that it opens us up to the higher spiritual potential of our own sign. By embracing the energy and character of the opposite sign, we energetically create an evolutionary loop (like the figure-eight infinity symbol) that enables a quantum leap to a higher Soul vibration. I will explain this process more in a future post, and what it means for our individual spiritual path. Here we are not speaking about individuals with these qualities, or signs, but our collective spiritual evolution. It is our global society that has been lulled into a Piscean-like trance with the “cultural traditions” of each country forming part of its own “glamour,” as it contributes to our collective illusion of separation. Neither does it mean that all Virgo individuals are enlightened: there is a distinction between the Soul-vibration of a sign and its personality expression.

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Ruth Hadikin, Soul Astrologer

Ruth Hadikin – Soul Astrologer

To get your personal Soul Sign/Life Purpose Report (FREE with a consultation), contact Ruth via her website. You can also request a FREE mp3 download, “The Energetics of Soul Astrology.”

Follow Ruth:

Weekly Forecast February 21: Mars Enters Pisces, Jupiter Square Pluto

Reader Osk Ingad Alden sent this photo, with the following explanation: My Pisces had his fifth birthday so we went downtown to the aquarium in Denver. It almost looks like the fish is swimming in the starry universe. Good fish!

Forget “the new paradigm.” Everything is in such flux that we’re getting a new paradigm several times a month.

First it was Egypt and revolution in the Middle East. Now it’s bloody suppression of revolution in the Middle East. The next shift could be civil war in Libya, and who knows where that might lead?

Meanwhile, closer to home, the Republican governor of Wisconsin moved to bust the unions representing state employees, prompting a showdown in the legislature and a march on the Capitol by thousands of protestors. It worked in Egypt. But it won’t persuade Gov. Scott Walker, who says he’s going to go ahead with his plan anyway, with the backing of the newly elected Republican majority. Can you spell Khadafy Qadhdhafi Gaddafi?

Things may quiet down a little this week, when Mercury and Mars join the Sun in tender Pisces. But it won’t be for long. Next month, rebellion planet Uranus enters Aries, sign of the warrior, with several planets following shortly afterward. By the New Moon in Aries on April 3, eight out of ten planets will be in cardinal signs, with six in Aries. Hopefully I’ll be caught up with my backlog of consultations by then so I can write a proper New Moon post.

This week, Mercury enters the sign of the Fishes on Monday followed by Mars on Tuesday. That is “Fishes,” by the way – plural. Pisces is two fish, each swimming in a different direction but tied together with a knotted cord. If you want to know what this symbolism means, watch a Pisces in front of a supermarket shelf trying to choose among 27 different kinds of peanut butter.

Seriously, now … It’s said that there are two kinds of Pisces, the “good fish” and the “bad fish.” One of them believes in the power of the Universe and can swim with the flow. The other puts blind faith in religious dogma and superstition and beats its scaly little head against the wall. This good-fish, bad-fish analogy is reflected in Neptune, the modern ruler of Pisces, which on one hand is highly intuitive and can merge into higher realms of consciousness, and on the other is permanently out to lunch (McFish anyone?)

So let’s hope the Sun, Mercury and Mars inspire us to be the good fish and not the bad one … although you will find plenty of examples of bad fish in the headlines this week. Unfortunately, giving a sword (Mars) to a bad fish isn’t a good idea. They tend to do things like killing in the name of the Lord.

The big day this week is Friday, when Jupiter in Aries squares Pluto in Capricorn. Although the planetary signature under all the unrest in the world is complex, Jupiter squaring Pluto is a major factor, especially with Jupiter in Mars-ruled Aries. This aspect repeats a pattern from the peak of the cardinal T-square last summer, and it’s mostly about who has the money versus who has the power.

Then something shifts this week, when Mars enters Pisces. With Mars no longer in Aquarius, the sign of revolution, political unrest gives way to fighting on behalf of religious ideals. Moreover, Mars and Jupiter will be in mutual reception (Jupiter was the sole ruler of Pisces before Neptune was discovered in 1846). I’m somewhat concerned the focus will shift from demands for freedom and individual rights to religious extremism – if not religious, then political.

However, there’s another set of aspects on Friday that could help turn conflict into a constructive dialog for growth and positive change. These occur right before and after the Jupiter-Pluto square, starting with a conjunction of the Sun and Mercury, followed by a sextile from both to Pluto.

This is where it gets really interesting, because all of that pent-up energy from the Jupiter-Pluto square has a path of release. Sextiles are open channels that allow energy to flow freely. Confrontation can be constructive or destructive. This planetary alignment favors a positive outcome – at least, for those who want it. Some factions profit by stirring up conflict and so aren’t inclined to seek resolution. These fishes aren’t just bad, they’re rotten.

On Sunday, the Moon in Capricorn goes through a quick review of the week’s aspects, starting with a conjunction with Pluto, then moving on to a square with Jupiter, a sextile to the Sun and Mercury, and a square to Saturn just so the taskmaster doesn’t feel left out of the T-square party. He’ll get his turn in a few weeks, though, and if you pay attention on Sunday, you may get a big hint about how it’s all going to go down.

Keep the faith!
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Saturday Extra!Julian Assange Prepares for Court Ruling

Perhaps this post on Julian Assange, the Man behind WikiLeaks, should be subtitled “The Never-Ending Story.” But then, that might be a bit too forbearing.

Still, a lot of people are continuously providing new episodes for this ongoing saga.

There is Julian Assange’s former co-worker, who has published a book in which he describes Assange as a sex-obsessed, despotic megalomaniac. Interestingly, this man has also recently launched his own website called Openleaks.com, which might be a clue as to why he has such an interest in discrediting Assange.

Then there is the Swedish prime minister, who has openly called Assange “public enemy No.1,” thereby giving away that this is indeed more than an inquiry into rape allegations.

And, last but not least, the cyber underground organisation Anonymous has uncovered a US government plot, hitched on the Bank of America and to be carried out by various security firms, to hack into Wikileaks and prevent it from publishing sensitive material on banks and bankers – at a cost of $2 million for the American taxpayer. It is quite obvious that a lot more hinges on Assange’s current trial than the happiness of two jilted lovers.

So, what will happen on Thursday, February 24? The British judge who is supposed to determine Assange’s fate has adjourned the pronouncement of his verdict until that date. But will he have come to any final conclusions? And what will they be? Let’s have a look at the chart, shall we? (Click here to view chart.) It is set for opening of court in London.

With Gemini rising, we have a different significator for Mr. Assange than in previous charts. He is now shown by Mercury and the Moon as co-significator. The judge, however, is still signified by Saturn, as in all the other hearings. With ‘his’ planet in retrograde motion, the judge has already adjourned twice, so he might do it again.

But there is something strange going on with the judge’s planet: note that it appears in the sixth house without any connecting aspect lines. At first glance, that would indicate the judge is acting completely on his own– a bit of a wildcard, really, that could take off in any direction.

Looking a bit deeper, though, we find that Saturn actually is in league with Venus, since they are in each other’s signs, forming what is called “a mutual reception.” According to traditional rules, planets in mutual reception cooperate and can even exchange places. This would put Venus into Libra and the sixth house of mercenaries, while Saturn would then move to Capricorn and the ninth. The judge will most likely voice his opinion in the matter, and what he has to say will likely reflect the objectives of Assange’s secret enemies. With Taurus intercepted in the twelfth house, Venus is one of their significators and describes them as powerful political or financial forces (Capricorn), situated abroad (ninth house). What’s more, the judge is shown as possibly being in cahoots with them!

Let’s look at Assange’s position in all of this. His main significator is Mercury in Pisces in the eleventh house. Even though the eleventh house is that of the “good daimon,” indicating protection, Mercury is in a very weak position here. It’s flanked by Mars, main ruler of the twelfth house of secret enemies and self-undoing, and by the Sun, ruler of the fourth and fifth house (the end of the matter, and sexuality or glitz and glamour, respectively). I expect some more of Assange’s celebrity friends making a spectacle of themselves, but whether that is helpful or not remains to be seen. With roughly a degree between Mercury and the Sun, Assange may have to wait another week or month until the end of this particular matter, i.e. the court case in Britain.

Assange’s co-significator is the Moon. In Scorpio, it harkens back to Assange’s natal chart, where it conjoins his first-house Jupiter this morning, which is a positive sign. But within the court session chart, this Moon is unaspected and therefore rendered ineffective. Even if we count the outer planets in – which usually isn’t done in this kind of chart – the Moon is only approaching an aggressive connection with Neptune (confusion, deception) and an easy-flowing trine to Uranus, the unpredictable bolt of lightning. Interestingly, Assange’s significators are the only traditional planets in this chart that are not involved in any receptions, i.e. covert cooperation!

All in all, the chart reflects the muddle-up this case has been from the beginning. In order to cut through the chase, someone might use outright deception. With the Moon, i.e. Assange, being opposed by the Arabic Part of Treachery at 27°54’ Taurus, we know which direction this deception would be coming from. Once again, it might be a good thing for Assange, if the judge stuck with Saturn’s retrograde motion and adjourned yet another time.


Helene

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Helene Schnitzer is an astrologer living in Glastonbury, England. Her specialities include Traditional, Horary and Hellenistic Astrology, and Astro*Carto*Graphy. Click HERE to read her full bio. You can also find more information on her website, Trans-It! AstroLogistics.

Weekly Forecast February 14: Full Moon in Leo, Sun Enters Pisces

Winter light in Seattle. © Pat Paquette, 2011.

It’s a different world this week, in more ways than one.

The big news, of course, is the revolution in Egypt. They have a long way to go – goddess help them – but the event created a “disturbance in the Force,” and it will have ripples into the collective consciousness for years, if not decades.

Whenever something this momentous happens, we have to look at what the outer planets are doing. I’ve written before and continue to believe that this public rebellion against a dictator is a manifestation of the Uranus-Pluto square. The trouble with this theory is that Uranus is still several degrees shy of an active square, so how can we explain this?

I see two possibilities. First, Jupiter in Aries is within striking distance of a square with Pluto, and he’s “carrying forward” the energy of Uranus. The two danced back and forth in conjunction for the second half of 2010. The first pass occurred at 0 degrees Aries on June 8. Then both planets went retrograde. The third and final meeting was on January 4, in Pisces.

What’s more, when Mubarak stepped down last week, Jupiter had just passed the degree at which he went retrograde last summer. In other words, we entered new territory. Jupiter rules Sagittarius, the sign of the explorer, and Aries is the pioneer. We might think of him as the scout for Uranus, who follows him into Aries on March 11. Uranus will pass last year’s station on March 22, and then we’ll be even deeper into new territory, with all of our bridges burned.

Another possible explanation – and the two aren’t mutually exclusive – has to do with the lunar nodes. The nodes, which are mathematical points in space, move retrograde, counter to the movement of the planets. However, they are direct from time to time. There seems to be something special and fated about these periods, which can last a few hours to a few days. At the moment of Mubarak’s resignation, the nodes were direct, at 1 degree Capricorn and Cancer. Again, these degrees are “hot spots” following last summer’s cardinal T-square.

If you think of what was happening in your own life last Friday, you may discover that there were connections to events during the peak of the T-square last July and August.

On to this week, the Moon in cardinal Cancer on Monday sends another little ripple into the early cardinal degrees. At the same time, mentally sharp Mercury in Aquarius trines Saturn in Libra. With both planets in the sign of their exaltation, this is a great day for mental activity. If your job requires a lot of concentration, this should be a nicely productive day for you.

On Thursday, the Sun conjoins Neptune as he moves through the final degrees of Aquarius. Friday is the big day, when Sun and Moon oppose each other in the final degree of Aquarius and Leo. Because of my full schedule, I’m limiting my blogging to one post a week (the weekly forecast), which means I won’t be doing the new and full moon reports until I get caught up. In the meantime, here’s a quote from Stephanie Austin, who sets the standard for interpreting lunations in her column for The Mountain Astrologer:

[callout]The Sun’s placement between the ongoing Neptune-Chiron conjunction highlights the need for a spiritual revolution – a change of heart, as well as a change of mind. Einstein noted that a problem cannot be solved at the level at which it was created. Our current social, economic, and environmental crises cannot be resolved from the mindset that generated them. We are being forced to think and live out of the box, as the centuries-old structures supporting patriarchy, materialism, and “might makes right” topple around us. There is no going back. We have passed the eleventh hour, and this Full Moon, with five planets in the eleventh sign, illuminates where each of us is being called to make a difference.[/callout]

I certainly couldn’t have said it any better myself.

Lost in all that boisterous Aquarius energy on Friday is a quiet Venus-Saturn square. Hard Venus-Saturn aspects usually don’t bode well, and yet I like this one, because the two planets are in mutual reception. Venus is in Capricorn, the sign ruled by Saturn, and Saturn is in Libra, the sign ruled by Venus. Love isn’t always easy. Committed relationships are hard work. Compromises are necessary, and yet it’s hard to judge just how much we can give up without losing our integrity. These two know how to negotiate and to do so fairly. Look at where they fall in your chart for clues about how you might use this energy to so some heavy lifting in your relationships.

Later on Friday, the Sun enters Pisces and conjoins Chiron the following day. Healing requires shedding light on internal wounds, some of which may be quite old and not even inflicted in this lifetime.

Sunday brings a triple conjunction of Mercury, Mars, and Neptune in Aquarius. If you’re fighting for freedom and higher ideals, go for it. Carry your picket signs and shout slogans: “Down with the Tyrant!” “Workers of the World, Unite!” United, We Stand!” Otherwise, this aspect requires delicate handling. Needless to say, stay away from politics at Sunday dinner … unless you want to end up wearing it.

Much love and courage to all,
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Understanding Ophiuchus: Taming the Hydra, Part II

Detail from Hercules and the Hydra, by Antonio Pollaiuolo, c. 1475.

Sooner or later, seekers on the spiritual path will have to “do battle” with their own inner desires. The myth of the Hydra symbolises this struggle, and it is the spiritual path of Scorpio.

Scorpio is not afraid to do battle, to go deep into the darkest depths of the human psyche and bring whatever is there into the light of awareness for healing. This is why the sign of Scorpio is associated with both priests and psychologists. A dominant theme in this internal battle is our struggle with desire.

This battle with desire is known to all who practise meditation on a deeper level, and is eloquently explained by Insight Meditation teacher Jack Kornfield in his book A Path With Heart: Continue reading →

Understanding Ophiuchus: Taming the Hydra

After the recent media fuss over Ophiuchus, I wrote a post providing some basic facts to clear up the misinformation that was circulating on the Internet. My thanks to Ruth for offering today’s post – the first part in a two-part article – in which she delves deeper into the mystery and meaning of Ophiuchus using the principles of Soul Astrology. ~Pat

Hercules and the Hydra, by Antonio Pollaiuolo, c. 1475. Uffizi Gallery, Florence.

Setting aside the debate about Zodiac signs, one thing we know for sure is that, for whatever reason, in 2011 Ophiuchus got global attention. That in itself is significant.

Ophiuchus is now firmly planted in our collective psyche, and maybe we need to hold that image for a reason. This could be a heads-up to look at something, another signpost on our spiritual journey, a synchronicity.

Before going any further, we need to be clear about the difference between constellations and Astrological signs.

Simply put, Ophiuchus is a constellation, not a sign. Constellations are clusters of stars. There are around 88 constellations visible in the night sky from Earth, and since the beginning of time humankind has given them mythological names Continue reading →