“Of course it’s OK to take those bags of money at your feet, John, and here’s a bonus. Would I lie to you?”

There’s only one major planetary aspect this week, giving us a chance to catch our breath after all the shifting that happened last week. However, it will not be business as usual.

As the week begins, we’re still in the wake of Sunday’s powerful lunar eclipse in Aries. Events related to this eclipse will continue to unfold through Wednesday. That said, when eclipses are this intense, events can occur up to three months ve. For some, life events that correspond to this eclipse already have happened.

Eclipses can bring rapid changes, often faster than we can cope with. In that regard, Mercury retrograde could be a blessing, as news of a big change could come a few weeks before the actual change. Keep in mind, though, that everything is subject to revision while Mercury is in “reverse” mode.

The lone major aspect of this week is in fact a conjunction between the Sun and Mercury, which is exact on Wednesday (Mercury’s day). This is the day to watch for important news. The nature of the news you receive likely will correspond to which houses in your natal chart the eclipses currently are occurring. For example, if they are in your fourth and tenth houses, you might expect news regarding your career or your living arrangement. If they are in your second and eighth houses, finances will be highlighted.

I’ve been looking at two different charts for the United States. The first is the so-called “Sibly” chart, the most popular among astrologers and astrology students. In this chart, the eclipses have been in the tenth and fourth houses and are now moving into the ninth and third. In mundane astrology, the tenth house is associated with the president, as well as the power a country has in the rest of the world. The fourth house is associated with the people (as opposed to the ruling class), the land itself, and natural resources. Some astrologers also use it as an indication of the opposition to the political party in power.

The eclipses have been in the tenth and fourth houses in the Sibly chart for the past two years. The ninth house rules religion and foreign trade, while the third house is associated with the national news media, transportation, and neighboring countries. The solar eclipse on September 13 fell in the Sibly ninth house, while the lunar eclipse on September 27 was in the tenth house. The historic visits last week by Pope Francis and Chinese President Xi Jinping are consistent with a ninth house eclipse. Meanwhile, the dramatic announcement by House Speaker John Boehner that he’s stepping down fits with a fourth-house lunar eclipse. We don’t have a birth time for Boehner, but his Moon is in Libra, where Mercury currently is retrograde. The implications of his departure aren’t yet clear. Conservative Republicans are hoping to elect one of their own so that they can push their agenda more aggressively.

The second chart is the Virgo Rising chart that I mentioned recently. The date is the same, but the time is earlier in the morning. According to some historians, this is more plausible than the late afternoon time on the Sibly chart. In the Virgo Rising chart, the eclipses have been in the second and eighth houses and now are moving into the first and seventh, with Jupiter about to cross the Ascendant. Jupiter rules the judicial system, bankers and banking, the national wealth, and religion – similar to ninth house issues. So one could make a case that the visit by the Pope just as Jupiter is crossing the U.S. Ascendant makes sense astrologically. At the same time, Mercury retrograde in the second house corresponds to the decision by the Federal Reserve to delay raising interest rates, even though the U.S. economy supposedly is improving. Ray Merriman wrote a good analysis in his column for this week.

As he notes, Mercury is officially halfway through his retrograde period on Monday. Between that and the eclipse, there’s plenty going on astrologically this week, even with only one major planetary aspect. I should also mention that both Mercury and the Sun are inconjunct Neptune on Tuesday and Wednesday, so eclipse-related developments could be unclear and subject to misinterpretation, if they’re not delayed entirely.

So yes, there should be time to catch your breath and maybe put your feet up with a glass of wine. But you might want to keep your shoes on.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat