*Times are PDT, unless stated otherwise. Planetary positions are expressed as the degree (rounded to the nearest whole degree) followed by the sign.
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On September 6th Venus at 20º Virgo sets off a host of personal planets, the inner most bodies in our solar system characterizing individual personality, that within a two-week period form a T-square with the North Lunar Node at 20º Sagittarius and the South Lunar Node at 20º Gemini. The Lunar Nodes represent the spatial relationship where the path of the moon in its monthly cycle intersects the path of the sun in its annual cycle. In traditional astrology they are referred to as the Dragon’s Head (north) and the Dragon’s Tail (south), and indicate where we are going, our destiny and where we have been, the past with all its lessons. When Venus activates the Nodes, we may be looking at our recent past and our current goals for the future in terms of who is with us, and who is not – who supports us in our dreams and who may be holding us back. Serious decisions may be made on the assessments we make at this time that could change the course of our relationships.
On September 8th Mercury at 29º Leo, now in direct mode, returns to face off with Neptune at 29º Aquarius. As discussed in the Leo AstroCast, during this summer the Sun, Venus and Mercury have all opposed Neptune notably at 29º Leo/Aquarius – the 29th degree of any sign indicates endings and beginnings. This is Mercury’s third conversation with the planet of Universal Consciousness within a month, the quiet coda to a loud and disturbing period around the globe. In the last breath of Leo however, Mercury, if he takes pains to listen (not easy for Leo) to what Neptune has to say, he may find an urgency to boldly shout out to the world to stop the madness of separation. With the spirit of that realization, Mercury emerges into Virgo later in the day to methodically work out the details. Where in our own backyard can we quiet the fear that division and intolerance brings and reach out to those around us for a big group hug. Virgo reaches her ultimate state of purity when her service to others, in whatever form, is offered with love.
On September 10th, Mercury at 2º Virgo opposes Chiron at 2º Pisces, following on the heels of the Sun and Venus just a couple of weeks before. Barbara Hand Clow calls Chiron, with its elliptical path that weaves from inside Saturn’s orbit out almost to that of Uranus, the “transforming bridge between the inner and outer planets” and more specifically “the connection between Saturn form and Uranian electrical integration.” Chiron in Pisces, she says, is about connecting with the universal oneness. Therefore, Mercury is pushed to a new level of awareness as it opposes healing-oriented Chiron, paving pathways for concurrent right brain/left brain alchemical thinking that has the potential to drive us to the higher-mind and the Piscean realm of the unknown.
September 12th brings the Full Moon at 2:27 a.m. with the Sun at 19º Virgo and Moon at 19º Pisces. The Sun in Virgo,” says Dane Rudhyar in The Universal Matrix, “constantly questions the meaning and the level of its activities; which is hardly one thing, and yet no longer another; which largely operates by contrast with that which it is not.” Virgo’s mercurial nature lives in an “everlasting state of impending crisis,” he says, from being in the pivotal position in the zodiac that transitions from focus on the individual to focus on society. “In Pisces, the Moon symbolizes all the end phases of gestation and parturition [giving birth],” says Rudhyar. “It collects the past, the disintegrating elements – but also it reflects the new hope, the ideal, the transcendent.” The opposition between the two luminaries in Virgo and Pisces thus represents for all of us that moment when all the energy building – and holding – Virgo does as she prepares for the tectonic shift, now focuses on the other end of the spectrum where it all must be let go and dissolved. She must be willing to sacrifice all that has been before in order for new life to begin in the next cycle. Letting go may feel like all of Virgo’s hard work goes down the drain, but it is a drain that leads to the sea of compassionate consciousness. This so-called “Harvest Moon” is also in square to the Lunar Nodes at 20º Sagittarius/Gemini, thus making a Grand Cross that further stresses the archetypes of Virgo/Pisces polarity: whereas the North Node, according to Rudhyar, refers to “the intake of spiritual cosmic energies,” the South Node refers “ to the release of seed materials.” The culmination of Virgo’s apprenticeship in individual development may be uplifted to the realm of Pisces shared wisdom, thus graduating into the welcoming arms of the collective.
On September 14th Venus enters her second home sign of Libra. Where as her first home of Taurus relates to that which we value in a tangible sense, in Libra she is all about relationships and artistic expression. Her heightened sense of the aesthetic here could forsake depth and meaning unless she allows true grace to be her guide. To Rudhyar, “the usual ‘love’ side of Venus activity has a peculiarly transcendent quality when operating through Libra. It is not instinctual and procreative love, as in Taurus. It is a humanized kind of love; love which is meaningful, beautiful, socially or religiously significant. It is the romantic love of Soul-mates, of companions impatient with bodily consummations. It is love for a purpose; redeeming, regenerative, sacrificial love.” Also imprinting this day with potentially bountiful mental energy, Mercury at 10º Virgo trines Jupiter at 10º Taurus, bringing a decidedly practical intelligence to bear on the management of natural resources – our own internal gold mines included!
September 16th brings Pluto’s retrograde motion to a halt as he stations direct at 5º Capricorn. Allowing for less than a 2º orb (the degree range surrounding an exact aspect wherein it remains dynamic), Pluto is in a T-Square with Uranus and Venus making the transformational planet’s about face highly focused with the power of attraction (or its opposite, repulsion) and innovation (or destruction). It could also bring up some surprising thoughts or feelings from your depths, perhaps dark ones, about those closest to you or what you think you value most. With Venus’ exact opposition to Uranus at 3º Libra/Aries happening on September 17th and her exact square to Pluto at 5º Libra/Capricorn on September 18th, the power of attraction could manifest like polarized magnets unable to get together. Relationships could face flight prone or rebellious behavior. But if we stick around for a much needed relationship reality check and allow everything to be on the table – nothing taboo – and be completely, perhaps brutally honest, we may find our perception of what love is radically altered. This could be a game changer for anyone with planets in the early degrees of Cardinal signs.
Also on September 18th, Mars enters Leo, shifting from cardinal water to fixed fire. Mars is likely to be more dramatically expressive in Leo than in passive Cancer. We may be inspired to take a spectacular stand for what we believe in. In the wake of the Pluto/Venus/Uranus T-square, we should call upon dignified Leo’s most noble intentions to create heroic solutions rather than let pride stand in the way of transformation.
On September 19th, Mercury at 18º Virgo caps the series of squares to the Lunar Nodes at 18º Gemini/Sagittarius. In Virgo, Mercury has a penchant to brilliantly weigh the strengths and weaknesses of past experience in order to determine the path of the future. The downside of this is being locked in the mind at the expense of spontaneity and an inability to operate with the natural rhythm of the present. The influence of the Nodes in a tension-filled T-square to the planets that reflect our positions on love (Venus), will (Sun) and perception (Mercury) over the past two weeks may bring us to a cross roads – do we stay with that which we know and learned from our ancestors past, the familiar and comfortable (South Node). Or do we allow ourselves to emerge from those entrenched positions into a highly uncomfortable zone of constant flux where we acknowledge that we aren’t in control and truly don’t know what is going to happen next, but where our greatest growth and accomplishment will be found (North Node)? If we can relax into this state and not push our surety of things on others and ourselves, we will have the opportunity to mine the rich core of experience at the moment of living it and thus create a concentrated elixir that will infuse the threads being weaved into the path of evolution.
There are no major aspects until Sun enters Libra on September 23. Until then!
Kimberly and Jim
Good catch Zane. Thank you. Wishful astrology on my part.
Very nice forecast! Thanks. You might want to make a slight correction in that Mars is not exalted in Leo.