Tag Archives: Mutable T-square

Full Moon in Sagittarius, May 27

Full Moon over Medicine Bow, Wyoming. © R.L. Wolverton/Dreamstime.com

The changes begun at the New Moon on May 13 come full circle at the Full Moon in Sagittarius on May 27.

All four mutable signs — Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces — are activated at this Full Moon, suggesting rapid, unpredictable, and irreversible change. There is no going back. Some of us may be in radically different circumstances than we were in a month ago.

Fortunately, the mutable signs are flexible and adapt readily to change. As unnerved as you may be initially, you should find it fairly easy to settle into your new surroundings.

We often forget, as we plod along in our daily grind, that it takes only one extraordinary moment to change our lives forever. This is true for individuals and for society as a whole. In these tumultuous times, we can’t take anything for granted.

The Sun at 6°33′ Gemini opposite the Moon at 6°33′ Sagittarius make a wide, out-of-sign trine and sextile with Saturn, Jupiter and Uranus, all in the final degrees of mutable signs. As of this lunation, the cosmic shakeup begins in earnest, with Uranus leaving Pisces less than three hours later and streaming headlong into cardinal Aries. Watch the news headlines for signs of sudden events, possibly shocking. Jupiter, ruler of this Full Moon, isn’t far behind. He’ll enter Aries on June 5, and I doubt he’ll do so quietly.

Venus, meanwhile, is at 9°27′ Cancer, in a separating opposition with Pluto at 4°48′ Capricorn. That makes a wide, out-of-sign grand cross, but I wouldn’t rate it as very powerful. At best, Venus in Cancer can help us nurture the relationships with those we love. At worst, some of us will feel emotionally overwhelmed for a few days. Cry if you must, but don’t expect a lot of sympathy.

The Sun and Moon also make a wide square with Neptune and Chiron. The danger here is that many people will choose to remain in denial, oblivious to the shift that is happening and therefore unprepared for events to come. None of us can predict exactly what will happen or when, but these powerful transits will manifest in the material world. The question remains how and when.

The mayhem following the eruption of the Eyafjallajökull volcano should serve as a warning. I don’t mean to be pessimistic or to spread gloom and doom, but we only need to look at how people clamored over one another for airline seats to imagine what would happen if, for example, our food supply were disrupted or we couldn’t access our ATM. People in the developing world have long experience with such conditions, but we in the privileged West do not. And, as we’ve seen, we aren’t likely to get much help from our governments.

The key to our survival in the coming months will be cooperating, sharing, and helping each other, which will be a real test of our sense of security. I urge you now, while we have some breathing space, to think about what you absolutely need and to plan for the immediate future. Also take note of who you’re aligned with.

The Sabian Symbol** for the Sun at 6°33′ Gemini is an old-fashioned well, with the keyword RECOMPENSE. The essence of who we are comes from a deep source that remains pure, despite actions and associations that run contrary to our true spirit. It is never too late to get in touch with our true selves or to starting living with absolute integrity. When we do so, we align ourselves with our higher consciousness and our purpose in this life.

For the Moon at 6°33′ Sagittarius, the Sabian Symbol is cupid knocking at the door, with the keyword ALLUREMENT. Close partnerships test our boundaries and sense of self. Ironically, changing for the benefit of a relationship is sometimes how we find out who we really are. Perhaps that’s why some of us are so driven to remain in difficult romantic relationships. It’s often the most effective way to learn the karmic lessons necessary for healing and wholeness.

As I noted in a previous post, this is Wesak, commemorating the enlightenment of the Buddha. The festival is held annually at the Full Moon in sidereal Scorpio. According to sidereal astrology, the Full Moon on May 27 falls at 11°39′ Scorpio.

In honor of Wesak, I leave you with a link to a wonderful essay on the Buddhist Channel, called “Buddha Wasn’t a Buddhist.” I found it very enlightening, and it dovetails beautifully with the message of our tropical Full Moon in Sagittarius.

Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

** From The Sabian Symbols in Astrology, by Dr. Marc Edmond Jones. The author, an astrologer, channeled this work in the early 1920s. There’s one symbol one for each degree of the zodiac, and we can use them to gain insight into charts.

Weekly Forecast May 17: Sun in Gemini, Jupiter Opposite Saturn

As above, so below. Detail of Fall of the Titans, by Dutch painter Cornelis van Haarlem, 1588.

There will be plenty of action this week, although it may seem somewhat chaotic and directionless much of the time.

The week begins on solid ground, with the Sun in the last degrees of Taurus making positive contacts with Jupiter in Pisces on Monday and Saturn in Virgo on Tuesday. These aspects favor material results. While the building opposition between Jupiter and Saturn will be felt as conflict between expanding our options and playing it safe, the tension between these two finds a creative outlet in the Sun. Wherever the last degrees of Taurus are in your chart is where you will find your biggest inspiration.

Also on Monday, Venus squares Jupiter, and then over the next two days trines Neptune and squares Saturn and Uranus. This could be a recipe for going overboard with marathon texting, too much junk food (or worse), and unrestrained impulse shopping, which you will regret sorely the next day.

Or, it could bring a totally unexpected opportunity to make an investment in your future. If you’re in the market for something in particular and stick to buying only what’s on your list, you could do very well early in the week.

After all that activity, Venus glides into watery Cancer on Wednesday, and her first order of business will be to oppose Ceres and Pluto this weekend. The Moon will be in Libra, which means we’ll have a cardinal T-square for a few hours.

Normally I wouldn’t rank a T-square with the Moon as much of an influence, but with the bigger configuration looming in the next two months, this one bears watching. The Moon will be at the apex of the T-square, in mutual reception with Venus. Hard aspects between Venus and Pluto typically translate to sexual tension and passion. In Cancer and Capricorn, the desire to possess and control could be overwhelming, and this makes Moon in Libra extremely uncomfortable. Be prepared to get called out on hidden motives. We all have them, but most of us would rather not admit it.

Mercury makes the last of a three-part trine with Pluto on Wednesday, which will help us access the secret recesses of our minds and the deep truths buried there. We may not like what we hear, but self-knowledge is self-empowerment. We all have a shadow side.

On Thursday, the Sun enters Gemini, and then we’ll be in mutable territory for the next two weeks. I started to write “solidly in mutable territory,” but nothing is solid or firm about the mutable signs. Think of trying to pour a bowl of warm Jell-O onto a plate, and you get the idea. Or like a symphony tuning their instruments. There’s no theme or focus. We’re all over the map and mixing our metaphors.

Chiron, which recently entered Pisces, is part of the mutable trend and represents deep spiritual wounds in the collective caused by millennia of man’s inhumanity to man. As we wind up the Age of Pisces and head into the Age of Aquarius, we need to reclaim our interconnectedness, not just with each other but with the invisible forces of the cosmos, which some call “higher realms.”

The Moon enters Virgo on Friday and makes contact on Saturday with Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus, all in mutable signs. On Sunday, Jupiter opposes Saturn, the first of three passes of this opposition. Only the first will be in mutable signs. The next two, on Aug. 16, 2010, and March 28, 2011, will be in Libra and Aries and will play a key role in the cardinal T-square we’ve been hearing so much about.

It’s hard to overemphasize the influence of this opposition and its role in intensifying the power of the cardinal T-square. Political and economic unrest is almost certain and, in fact, has started already, well in advance of the peak period of the T-square in July and August. We’re seeing it most prominently in financial markets. The opposition is magnified by the conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus, which is taking place concurrently with the Jupiter-Saturn opposition, and by the square of all three to powerful Pluto in Capricorn.

These are extraordinary times, and no matter where this planetary configuration falls in your chart, you will feel the pressure. For some, it will manifest as unbearable tension that forces you to grow and change. For others, it could bring unimaginable opportunities, totally out of the blue, but these will hold their own set of challenges. Sweeping change is, by definition, disruptive, and humans are wired to stick to the safe and familiar. That simply will not be possible in the months to come.

That is the main reason why I sign off my weekly forecasts with a wish for much love and courage. We’re all going to need it.

Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

New Moon in Taurus, May 13-14

The Nebra Sky Disk, found in 1999 near Leipzig, Germany, has been dated c. 1600 B.C. and depicts the Sun or possibly Full Moon, New Moon, Pleiades (in the constellation Taurus), and solstice points.


The New Moon in Taurus on May 13 is a time to celebrate beauty, abundance, and the cyclical dance of life.

It also is a stark reminder of the realities of living in a material world. For some of us, being “spiritual” means denying the physical body or getting our minds off material things. Although it’s true that many people place too much importance on money and possessions, going to the opposite extreme isn’t to our advantage, either. If we weren’t meant to have a physical body, with all its attendant joys and sorrows, we’d be disembodied beings of light in some other quadrant of the galaxy.

At 23°09′ Taurus, the Sun and Moon are in a wide trine with Saturn in late Virgo and a sextile with Jupiter and Uranus in Pisces. The Saturn-Uranus opposition is still big news. Even though it’s separating, the contact remains close enough to be a major influence, and Jupiter’s impending conjunction with Uranus is acting as an amplifier. I’ve written about the cardinal T-square of summer 2010, but we may not have to wait that long to witness some extraordinary global events.

At the Full Moon in Scorpio on April 28, we had an opportunity to let go of whatever needed releasing in preparation for these new circumstances. For some, the letting go may not have been voluntary. If something was taken from you then, the New Moon is your door to a new beginning.

Venus, ruler of this New Moon, is at 22°47′ Gemini, in a wide mutable T-square with Saturn, Uranus, and Jupiter. The mutable signs — Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces — are highly changeable, and swift change is what we can expect. This is a great time to initiate changes, but they may happen with or without any deliberate action on your part.

Pluto also is in a wide square with Saturn, Uranus, and Jupiter in this chart, and that gives the appearance of a grand cross. However, with Pluto in the cardinal sign of Capricorn and the others in mutable signs, it’s technically not a cardinal grand cross. It’s a sort of “hybrid grand cross,” and perhaps that’s key to understanding events around this lunation. It’s a setup to events this summer, some quick rearranging before the big move.

One reason I think we’ll see some very fast action in the next week is that Mercury will return direct on Tuesday, two days before the New Moon, and he’s in mutual reception with Venus. Energy that got blocked at the last New Moon may suddenly kick in.

The Sabian Symbol** for this New Moon is a mounted Indian with scalp locks, with the keyword COMMAND. This may seem like a violent image for peace-loving Taurus, but it isn’t about conquest. Rather, it’s about recognizing the genius of our “enemies” and acquiring it for our own benefit — acquisition being a very Taurus trait. Put another way, imagine if we were in Iraq not for the oil but for the ancient wisdom and knowledge of one of the oldest civilizations on Earth. Incidentally, that is where astrology originated.

Inherent in this symbol is the concept of working with nature to fulfill our highest potential. Our physical bodies are our connection with the material world, and our senses can guide us toward our highest goals and aspirations if we use them to their fullest advantage. We can’t be fully present in the moment without them.

Keep those antennae up, and enjoy the ride!

Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

[Note: The New Moon falls on May 14 in the Eastern Hemisphere.]

** From The Sabian Symbols in Astrology, by Dr. Marc Edmond Jones. The author, an astrologer, channeled this work in the early 1920s. There’s one symbol one for each degree of the zodiac, and we can use them to gain insight into charts.