Coming drama. Hold on!

These are very interesting times! A few days ago there was a conjunction of Mars and Saturn at 9 degrees Sagittarius. And now we are about to have an eclipse squaring that point at 9 degrees of Virgo. And there is much more.

I use the Sibley chart for the USA. Even though there are several others, I’ve noticed that there are points in them that could be triggered simultaneously with the Sibley chart, so I have continued to use it. Right now there are many issues going on.

Let’s start with the recent conjunction of Mars and Saturn at almost ten degrees Sagittarius. It occurred on August 23^rd and is notorious for “action taken after long frustration.” It is affecting the mutable signs around ten degrees (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces)….and remember, not just the Sun sign, but any planet or point in the chart that might be near that degree. In the USA chart, it is affecting Uranus which occupies 8:55 Gemini. Uranus in the USA chart is opposite the Ascendant, and is an indicator of “independent” attitudes.

When Mars and Saturn aligned in the sky (from our viewpoint—of course they are in different orbits), they were only three degrees above the USA chart’s ascendant, which is 12:46 Sagittarius in the Sibley chart. Simultaneously solar arc Saturn is opposing it at 13:22 Gemini. Not only that, but the USA progressed Sun is squaring all of them at 11:53 Pisces. A LOT is being affected by the Mars/Saturn conjunction AND the accompanying progressions. But there’s more. In six months the USA progressed Moon will join the configuration hovering around the USA’s ascendant/descendant axis. The month before it does, the progressed Moon will enter the first quarter phase with the progressed Sun.

To top it off, there is an eclipse on September 1^st at 9:21 Virgo, which will aspect all of this. It sets up a year of attention to these energies.

What does all this mean? It means that events are converging to upset the status quo. The first quarter progressed lunar to progressed Sun phase is a kind of “revolution.” Those born with it in their charts tend to disagree first—like a knee-jerk reaction—before agreeing on anything. There is a natural tendency to rebellion. Since the Sun rules the ninth (legislature) we’ll probably see a lot of rebellion in Congress about five months from now, and might last as long as three and a half years—as long as the P Moon is in first quarter phase to the P Sun. We’re seeing some of it right now with transiting Uranus squaring the USA’s Mercury/Pluto opposition, and that will be in effect well into 2018. No, we’re not going to just lie down and play dead. Things are going to change!! There is another powerful eclipse coming in Mid-September. I’ll write about that next. 

PS:  One more day for August birthdays to have a half price chart. Next, of course, the September birthdays can take advantage of this. 

Planetary Phases

Astrology is one of those studies that is never-ending.  Just as you think you’ve mastered it, something new (at least to you) crops up to study. I felt that way many years ago when I first heard Jeffrey Green lecture about the phases of the Sun and Moon. Then I found out those phases could be applied to ANY pair of planets, explained beautifully by Marc Robertson in his book, “The Engine of Destiny.” THEN, most recently, I bought a book by Raven Kaldera entitled “Moon Phase Astrology” in which he takes it a step farther and interprets these combining the phase with the Moon in each SIGN.

This short article is just an overview of the eight phases to get people started in pursuing it further. The eight phases each comprise 45 degrees and are:  New, Crescent, First Quarter, Gibbous, Full, Disseminating, Third Quarter, and Balsamic. One way to remember *generally* what they mean is to equate them with signs…in order. New phase for thirty degrees is similar to Aries, but the last 15 degrees of that phase takes on a Taurus quality also present in the first 15 degrees of the Crescent phase. The last 30 degrees of that phase is similar to Gemini….and so on around the wheel...but just *generally;* the phase overrides the generic meaning of the sign we equate with a phase; however, a planet will be occupying a sign—usually different—within a phase, and that will be equally important.

Within each phase there are aspects between the two planets in phase relationship that are possible, which is also the source of a shift in behavior. For instance, the conjunction at the beginning of the New Phase gives way to a semi-sextile after 30 degrees of separation, and then a semi-square at the point where it enters the next phase. The interpretation of the phase then takes on the quality of the aspect.

The First Phase is called “New” and it starts with the conjunction of two planets, or for our purposes here, the Sun and Moon—a New Moon. The faster body then pulls away from the slower one (in this case, the Moon pulls away from the Sun) and moves to form a semi-square to the Sun as it enters the Crescent Phase. New is about energy, new life, impulsiveness, action. No matter what signs they are in, the planets (or lights in this case) will behave to some degree in that manner. The rest of the chart has to be taken into consideration.

The Crescent Phase I like to think of as a large oak tree staying in one place but observing all around it. However, the function of this should be “breaking away” to be on one’s own. Too often, the difficulty of this is getting momentum. It’s rather harmonious. The sextile and quintile are within this phase.

First Quarter Phase comes at the waxing square between the two bodies. This is the most rebellious of all and no matter what signs the planets (or lights) are in, the person usually has an urge to disagree before agreeing. It’s a kind of adolescent energy (“Don’t tell ME what to do!”) But, within it is a trine, and once the degrees of separation reach that, it is usually more “talk” of rebellion rather than “action.”

The Gibbous Phase is comprised of late Leo and Virgo energies. There is a love of analysis, usefulness, and duty—but frustration when falling short of the “ideal.” [btw, my natal Moon IS in Virgo AND the Gibbous Phase, so I’ve had to work on a SUPER critical streak and desire for perfection all my life.  However, I also have Venus and Jupiter in Pisces and THEY are in Balsamic Phase….more Pisces. So you can see the conflict.] Within this phase is the sesquiquadrate (135 degrees), the bi-quintile (144 degrees, and if the two bodies in question actually are making this aspect, there is great talent) and the Quincunx (150 degrees).

The Full Phase has qualities of Libra and part of Scorpio which gives us the clue that it is about partnership. Two planets, no matter what signs they’re in, that are in Full Phase, will have an undercurrent “people pleasing” quality. After the opposition aspect at its beginning, the aspects begin to repeat in reverse order in waning phase, but there is more maturity in expressing them.

The Disseminating Phase could be called “the teacher.” The soul has a desire to share what it has learned and wants to “disseminate” its knowledge. Even though it ends at the waning square, that is really the beginning of the next phase; it is not an aggressive phase. The entire cycle is one of maturation.  We are constantly moving in experience from one phase to the other by way of the Progressed Moon and other progressions/solar arcs/transits, so at this point, one feels that s/he can put into action all that has been accumulated in experience.

The Third Quarter Phase brings in internal challenges to use what one has learned. Rebellion might flare up, but it’s handled maturely with an eye on further enlightenment.

The Balsamic Phase is the last one and equates to the second half of Aquarius and all of Pisces. There is reflection and assimilation of all one has learned through the cycle. Many people withdraw to reflect and prepare for the new cycle ahead. People born with planets in this phase have many Piscean qualities regardless of the signs the planets occupy.

This is the briefest of overviews. Buz Myers held an annual conference (still going on although he passed on over a decade ago) that emphasized this cycle. He wrote a book about it and so did Dane Rudhyar (“The Lunation Cycle” I think is the title). Buz had some interesting twists on this topic.

Most of the time when I'm consulting with clients, the main problems are either love life or money issues. In a effort to help with the latter, from now on for a year only, I'm offering clients 1/2 off consultations that are scheduled in your birthday month. So, anyone with birthdays in August can have that offer now.

Saturn square Neptune

Right now we are living through a long transit of Saturn Square Neptune which is affecting the mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces). When Saturn goes through Sagittarius (as it is now), dissatisfaction with the status quo is prominent.  Saturn represents “conflict, pain and doubt,” whereas, Sagittarius represents truthfulness, idealism, education, philosophy and anything connected with an organized society’s government and institutions.  Neptune represents spirituality, idealism, the collective and (if not well-aspected), illusion/delusion and confusion. When two planets like this square, it sets up a conflict between the two with the faster planet (Saturn, in this case) acting on the slower one.

One way to put it is that we are taking illusion/confusion (Neptune) seriously (Saturn) because we are having conflict, pain and doubt (Saturn) about our ideals (Neptune). In more simple terms, lies and delusion (Neptune) are being revealed and taken seriously (Saturn).  Possible things that happen are that we get very serious about being lied to, we begin to see the delusion, and it will be held to account. Saturn is also “discipline.” The square aspect is difficult, but it gets the job done. Under a trine, the problem might be seen, but nothing done about it. The square sets up an impatient tension to DO something. Over the last few weeks this was brought into focus by the nodes going over it, and then Mercury. Now Venus is joining in as well as Mars before the month’s end, and in less than a day from now, the Moon. The Moon would have triggered this several times a month, so it won’t be all that startling. However, when Mars conjoins Saturn, people usually act on their frustrations.  In the next two weeks, Mars will conjoin Saturn and square Neptune.  When that happens, people who have been experiencing the frustrations of this the most will act on it.

I can only address the Sun here, since not being able to know what is in everyone’s chart without looking, and those are people with the Sun in early Sagittarius (born in late November/early December, Sun in Pisces (very late February/early March), Sun in Gemini (late May/early June) and Virgo (late August/early September). However, millions will have these signs in other positions in their charts or the chart angles, so it can really affect many, many people. Usually, conjunctions of Mars and Saturn in challenging aspect to any point in a birth chart, indicates turning points that are very important.

Notice: Chelsea's date should be Feb. 27th. I used the right chart but typed the wrong date. Sorry. Blogspot has changed their format so much I don't know how to correct it.

Hillary

Since we do not have a firm, verified time of birth for Hillary Clinton, I looked at Chelsea’s chart to get an idea of what is going on. She was born on Feb 22, 1980 at 11:24 pm in Little Rock, AR.  She recently gave birth to a son when her solar arc ascendant was conjoining natal Neptune, ruler of her fifth house (Koch houses). Chelsea has Scorpio rising (very common to have one’s rising sign in the Sun Sign of the mother). I won’t speculate on her private life, but the day after the election, a long standing applying aspect of progressed Mars square Uranus is triggered by transiting Mercury. Her Uranus is 25:34 Scorpio. Progressed Mars on that day is 25:53 Leo, retrograde. Transiting Mercury is 25 degrees Scorpio the day before and after.  She is surprised and angry about something. However, it looks more domestic to me, although fourth house (which Uranus rules in her chart) can indicate her mother. There are other partile aspects, but they appear to be more concerned with her personal life.

Recently, I saw a post about Hillary having a Chiropractor in Massachusetts that she used while vacationing there. There is a rumor that she said she was born around midnight, so I rectified its possibility (aligning dates of events in her life for that time). One time that fit events was12:03:41 am. But, keep in mind that rectification is like educated guessing and there are several times a day a person can be born and the chart will “work” for events. The problem is that this one has Leo rising, and her 8 pm birthtime has her Scorpio planets in the fifth house, which is similar. This one also has the Sun in the third house which is similar to Gemini rising, which is her 8 am rising sign.

I won’t waste time on a speculative chart going into all the details, but I do want to point out some things that do not rely on the time of birth all that much. First, this summer her progressed Sun and Mercury are squaring Neptune. Now, in all fairness, that CAN be bewilderment, but it can also be deception when BOTH the Sun and Mercury are involved. They will continue to activate that position because the Sun and Mercury will go on to square the progressed Neptune. The evening of the election, Jupiter is activating all this…conjoining the pr Neptune. At that time progressed Venus is trining pr Neptune, as well. Venus rules the MC of this chart, transiting Uranus is trine Saturn.

However, the most disturbing thing to me is this: She has natal Mercury square Saturn. By solar arc, that has moved to be almost in aspect to her Sun. If this chart is right, then Saturn would conjoin the Sun about ten months after the election. In this chart, it would probably be a serious illness. (Sun rules the ascendant and Mercury the sixth house.) With the 8 AM chart, it would be secret behind-the-scenes political dealings (Sun ruling 9^th, in the 12^th where the Saturn would be by solar arc), and if the PM chart, probably something more personal…like a concern for family. This is not a small matter. She isn’t going to *like* whatever is going on, and it is serious. Mercury is also involved in it, since it will be squaring that position. Whatever houses Mercury rules (in whichever chart) will be involved as well. As far as timing goes, the later in the day she was born, the further away from the election it will be happening, but within two years after the beginning of the new president’s term.