Creations of the Sun. © Pat Paquette, 2013.
In contemplating what to write this week, I’m at a loss to come up with anything new.
The news gets more and more depressing. The Obama administration has given itself a free pass to keep spying on the world, U.S. citizens included, while Edward Snowden is trapped at the Moscow airport, and Bradley Manning faces life in prison. Did you see the photos of him leaving the courtroom at Fort Meade? Why does such a little guy need to be surrounded by beefy, gun-toting guards? Obviously, he scares the bejeesus out of some powerful people.
News headlines get multiplied by orders of magnitude on the social media. I have to tell you, I’m burned out on the constant stream of posts screaming, “Oh my god, have you heard what they’ve done now?” I get it! Everyone with a brain connected to a heart gets it. Those without that connection aren’t going to get it, no matter how many times the message is repeated on Facebook or how loud it’s shouted. Really, it’s not much different than trying to convert someone to your religion.
OK, so we know it’s bad. The police state is so far advanced that it’s too late to fight without risking life and limb. Even more frightening, many of the 99 percent defend it. Yet, every now and then, between the predictable comments on news articles, an intelligent voice in the wilderness asks, “OK, but what can we do about it? Venting in comments and on the social media does nothing.”
So here we are, looking over a deep chasm, the bridge collapsed and rusting, and no way across. Which brings me back to where I started. I’ve been saying all of this for so long that I feel like a broken record, and I don’t have any new answers. All I can do is look at planetary movements and form some kind of an educated guess about how long the current situation will last. Unfortunately, the news isn’t good. We’re in for several more years of turmoil, and things are going to get worse before they get better. You don’t need to be an astrologer to know that. In the meantime, we need to get our priorities straight, examine our values, revise our goals, and work within our communities – not necessarily in that order.
Of all those strategies, finding your community is the hardest, especially if you’re a free thinker. The trick is to maintain your individual voice while working for the common good. Humans are social animals, and most of us do care about our fellows. I’d venture that a good majority are even willing to give more than they get back – provided, of course, that they feel they’re giving to a worthy endeavor. But we don’t like being just another cog in the wheel, especially when that wheel powers a destructive machine.
This is precisely the message of Aquarius, sign of Monday’s Full Moon. Aquarians (of which I am one) tend to be freethinking individuals who don’t go along with the groupthink, and yet this is the sign of humanitarian causes, community action, and our human “family.” Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité. I’ll talk more about the Full Moon, but first let’s have a look at the general lay of the land.
This week we’re in the in-between zone of last week’s dreamy grand trine and a tense cardinal T-square. In both configurations, Jupiter and Mars play a key role, and we start right out on Monday with an exact conjunction of this dynamic pair. Indeed, Monday is the biggest day of the week. Right after the conjunction of Mars and Jupiter, Venus enters Virgo, then the Sun enters Leo, and just over two hours later, we have our first Full Moon in Aquarius of the summer. Yes, there will be another on August 20.
Mars and Jupiter are conjunct not only by latitude but also in declination. In other words, they will be extremely close to each other in the sky, which isn’t always true of conjunctions. This makes the aspect all the more powerful. In earlier times, this combination in the birth chart of a prince was considered a good sign that he would be a strong king, bringing the country wealth and military might. I’m not a big fan of European royalty, but I can’t help notice that Queen Elizabeth has a close conjunction of Mars and Jupiter in Aquarius. If Baby Cambridge is born in the next few days, she (I’m hoping) also will have this signature. Incidentally, if Kate has the baby right before the Full Moon, it could still be a Cancer. That was my bet, but we’ll see. (Tomorrow’s Full Moon was my third choice.)
Click on image to enlarge
Mars and Jupiter conjoin at 6 degrees Cancer, which is still quite close to trining Saturn at 5 degrees Scorpio and Neptune at 4 degrees Pisces. The trine continues through the first week in August, so there’s still time to work with these flowing energies to find solutions to tough problems before the window starts to close. Indeed, the Full Moon might add some urgency. The chart to the right is kind of messy, but if you look closely, you can see a faint red triangle from the Sun and Moon to Saturn. That’s a square, and while we’d normally consider a Full Moon squaring Saturn to indicate trouble, any crisis that might arrive could come with a brilliant solution, perhaps not short of a miracle. Remember, Saturn is the traditional ruler of Aquarius (before Uranus was discovered in 1781), and he represents structure. Now, with Saturn in Scorpio and in mutual reception with Pluto, any structures we build these days are subject to immediate collapse. However, a sound, workable plan initiated since late June could put a strong foundation under your project.
The closer a planet is to the Sun, the faster it appears to move in the sky. While Jupiter is pulling away from the grand trine slowly, Mars is quickly heading for his next connection, which is a cardinal T-square with Uranus and Pluto. Mercury currently is closest to the third leg of the T-square, so we’re getting a glimpse of what’s ahead. Later this week, Mars opposes Pluto, and we descend into the belly of the beast. Mars squares Uranus next week, and then Jupiter comes along in early August. This is one of the stormiest astrological periods of the year, second only to early November. The one consolation I can provide is that you probably already know how the Uranus-Pluto square is manifesting for you personally – if it is, which isn’t a given – so whatever comes at you, while it may seem out of the blue, likely will be part of a ongoing crisis and not an entirely new situation.
Right before the Full Moon on Monday, the Sun enters Leo, sign of individualism and will. Leo has a reputation, not undeserved, as “self-oriented,” but the Full Moon in Aquarius reminds us that individuals form communities, and successful groups value the creativity and individuality of all their members. When the group itself becomes more important than the individuals in it, it’s a slippery slope to forced allegiance and tyranny. It’s interesting that we get a Full Moon both at the first degree of Aquarius and again near the last. That’s nearly a month to contemplate the concept of communities made up of empowered individuals.
© Pat Paquette, 2013.
Turning to Venus, she’s not at her best in Virgo, and on Friday, she opposes Neptune. The conventional interpretation of Venus opposite Neptune is delusions in love (on a date night, no less). Again, however, we’ve got a mitigating circumstance via a sextile to Saturn that makes it possible to see clearly and make sound decisions. That could be anything from recognizing a one-night stand for what it is and enjoying it while it lasts, to realizing that the guy or gal of your dreams has been sitting under your nose all along, and you were too scared, proud, or downright stupid to notice. On Sunday, Venus sextiles Jupiter, another fine day for settling into a realistic partnership. Positive Venus-Jupiter combinations also can be terrific for your finances, depending on where they’re transiting your chart.
To sum up, we’ve got our work cut out for us for the next few weeks, but we’re not without the resources to get it done.
I leave you with a stunning video that could change how you think of Saturn forever. And this is just the trailer:
In Saturn’s Rings
Wishing you all much love and lion-hearted courage,
Pat
The Sun enters his own sign of Leo this week, setting the stage for a pair of eclipses in August that will affect Leo, Aquarius, and anyone with major planets or chart points in the fixed signs.
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