This week’s blog begins with a query: What game are we in? To what rule set are we committed, all in, with no reservations to the exclusion of all others? The act of making an unwavering choice with respect to how we live our life is in itself perhaps the most powerful act we can make. It shows clear, unequivocal intent. In this physical material reality, the myriad games people play are in many cases quite ruthless. But there is another game altogether that is above and beyond anything the ordinary, unawake mind can comprehend. It is the game of Love and it is waiting for us to be all in. In a TED talk just a couple weeks ago, Pope Francis called it the “revolution of tenderness.”
The movements in the cosmos this week inspired this query. Unfolding in three distinct waves, they are asking our mind, body and spirit to hear the urgent call to go from being a “you” to being an “us.” In his talk the Pope said, “Through the darkness of today’s conflicts, each and every one of us can become a bright candle, a reminder that light will overcome darkness, and never the other way around… A tiny flicker of light that feeds on hope is enough to shatter the shield of darkness. A single individual is enough for hope to exist, and that individual can be you. And then there will be another “you,” and another “you,” and it turns into an “us.” And so, does hope begin when we have an “us?” No. Hope began with one “you.” When there is an “us,” there begins a revolution.” But to have a revolution that breaks down the structures of fear preventing us from loving others unlike ourselves, we need to access our inner spiritual power source. That’s where the first cosmic wave of the week obliges. On May 9th, the Sun in Taurus trines Pluto in Capricorn, a powerful signature that symbolically aligns the heart and will (Sun) with the primal core of existence (Pluto). With the flowing trine, the Sun/Pluto pair at its highest potential archetypally represents a connection to power that does not shout orders, but can subtly bypass mental defenses through a deep understanding of the fundamental nature of this reality and thus maneuver around blocks, navigate labyrinths, push up mountains and dive deep into the ocean of consciousness, with the ultimate goal to empower our inner states to transmute.
On May 10th, the Moon in Scorpio moves into alignment with Pluto just as it pulls into its exact opposition to the Sun to form the Full Moon. The Scorpio Moon adds emotional intensity and an even greater sense of urgency that pushes for full presence in the situation at hand. Aligned with Scorpio’s ruler Pluto, this Full Moon knows what “all in” looks like and anything less is immediately identified as an injurious fraud. If we do not feel aligned with our inner power or feel we’ve lost touch with it altogether, we can reclaim it by taking responsibility for whatever is going on in our lives. Owning one’s own thoughts and deeds is perhaps the most empowering act we can make. On the subject of the Revolution of Tenderness, the Pope said: “Yes, tenderness is the path of choice for the strongest, most courageous men and women. Tenderness is not weakness; it is fortitude. It is the path of solidarity, the path of humility. Please, allow me to say it loud and clear: the more powerful you are, the more your actions will have an impact on people, the more responsible you are to act humbly. If you don’t, your power will ruin you, and you will ruin the other.”
Also on May 9th, Mercury commences the second energetic wave with its second of two exact conjunctions with Uranus in Aries in less than two weeks. The esoteric vibrations emanating from the planet of perception and communication’s protracted uplink to the planet of revolution may have contributed to more than a few spontaneous flashes of insight and spectacularly new ways of thinking. The Mercury/Uranus planetary pair unfettered in Aries may have also correlated to a compelling need to speak unfiltered truth with some amount of force, or inspiring a complete break from a perceived limiting situation. Mitigating the most extreme and unstable expressions of this alignment, however, Mercury segues to a trine with Saturn in Sagittarius on May 11th, an alignment that has also been lingering long enough to instill some common sense into the proceedings. Saturn’s influence archetypally harnesses the brilliance of Mercury/Uranus long enough for the lightening bolt ideas to be sustained with a solid action plan to revolutionize, for example, stolid scientific or business systems. On a spiritual level, Saturn in Sagittarius connecting harmoniously to Mercury/Saturn encourages us to make the effort to study esoteric systems so we can logically understand the need to move into a conscious, self-aware state of being. Freeing the spirit from the noisy chatter of a mind that controls through incessant distraction brings us to knowing the powerful quietude of being.
The third energetic wave unfolds May 11th – 12th when Mars in Gemini aligns with Neptune in Pisces and Jupiter in Libra. Mars is the planet of action and when it aligns with Neptune, it morphs the natural directness of its expression into a diffuse, intuitive movement that becomes more of a lyrical dance than a full force push to satisfy desires. When Mars aligns with Jupiter, enthusiasm peaks, as does the supply of energy to get things done. There is a strong drive to act big in such areas as sports, travel and philosophy or an artistic endeavor. Together the Mars/Jupiter/Neptune alignment has the potential to be a profound creative triad of higher mind, body and spirit powerfully asserting ideas for social justice. It may also manifest as a strong desire for spiritual relationships, a call to service or a visionary expression through visual or movement oriented art forms. In acting big, however, it is important to know our limits, where we can effectively help and where it is beyond our reasonable capacity.
While Mars will move out of this alignment after a week’s time, Jupiter and Neptune remain aligned in a 150° inconjunct aspect through mid-July that in addition to Mars will also be triggered by the Sun and Mercury passing through the same degree space in Gemini, and then again by all three when they pass through Cancer. The personal planets thus act as conduits to give us greater affinity for this otherwise somewhat difficult to access Jupiter/Neptune aspect that brings with it the potential to connect with cosmic understanding. According to Jim Sher, “Jupiter is beneficial when and if a person receives a new opportunity and takes advantage of it by making an effort to expand one’s consciousness and grow. Jupiter asks us to enlarge our understanding and leave old, outworn, limited viewpoints behind. This is especially true when a person is bound up by rigid belief systems.” Sher regards Neptune as “the call to an inner process” and, as with all of the outer planets, the call to a new ‘Way of Being’ that urges us “to view what is happening to us as part of an underlying ‘Unity’ that is always connected to others and with the multi-verse itself.” Neptune, he says, asks us “to feel compassion for others and to learn to respond accordingly.” If we can collectively rise up to the call of the Jupiter/Neptune alignment, then we will have indeed joined the revolution in tenderness.
Here’s the data (using Pacific Time and planetary positions rounded to the nearest whole degree, unless otherwise noted):
May 9 – Sun trine Pluto at 19° Taurus/Capricorn at 11:21 a.m.
May 9 – Mercury conjunct Uranus at 26° Aries at 10:19 p.m.
May 10 – Moon opposite Sun (Full Moon) at 20° Scorpio/Taurus at 2:42 p.m.
May 11 – Mars square Neptune at 14° Gemini/Pisces at 10:53 a.m.
May 11 – Mercury trine Saturn at 27° Aries/Sagittarius at 1:15 p.m.
May 12 – Mars trine Jupiter at 14° Gemini/Libra at 3:19 a.m.
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