AstroCast: November 12 – 25, 2020

“We are being lived by powers we pretend to understand.” – A.H. Auden

In times of great upheaval such as we are experiencing now, it is helpful to look for a quality of consciousness amidst the daily barrage of information in order to understand everything more fully. Having data that stems from a sense of investigation and questioning rather than blind acceptance helps us to respond as appropriately as possible in every moment. But even more supportive is paying attention to the intuitive, non-linear data we receive via synchronicities and such esoteric symbolic systems as astrology. This can give us a profound sense of how what is happening within and without correlates with the rhythms of the evolution of consciousness. Anyone reading this article surely has had experiences of the profound unseen forces at work, even if we don’t fully understand them. This article is dedicated to speaking to the spiritual zeitgeist unfolding in this historical moment and will focus on messages from the cosmic intelligences that suggest we are on the threshold of a great new cycle. An old way of being is in the throes of dying and a new one is emerging that will birth many new ideas on how we can learn and grow in consciousness together.

The third and last exact conjunction between Jupiter and Pluto in Capricorn that has been in effect literally all year unfolds on November 12. As this was being written, Joe Biden was just projected to win the U.S. Presidential election. The Sabian symbol for 23 degrees Capricorn is “A soldier receiving two awards for bravery in combat.” I feel this relates to Biden’s victory. Dane Rudhyar’s interpretation of this symbol in his book, An Astrological Mandala, says it corresponds to the “reward offered by society for the fulfillment of individual responsibility.” It is a “balancing of accounts” between the individual and the collective the individual nobly serves, and also symbolizes how “each one should be able to trust the other.” While Biden is widely considered to have thoroughly earned this reward by virtue of his many years of service to society, the Jupiter/Pluto conjunction also represents a balancing of accounts for the one who lost the election, which was may have been more of a reaction to Trump than a mandate for Biden. The transiting conjunction opposes Trump’s natal Saturn/Venus conjunction in Cancer, which suggests he is being called to account for not living up to his responsibilities to the society he was called on to serve.

The Jupiter/Pluto planetary pair represents the powerful alignment of two archetypal processes: Jupiter asks us to expand our consciousness through direct experiences; Pluto leads us into the process of transformation wherein we begin to purge from our operating system the identification with a self-serving ego so that we can become an agent for the unseen forces of consciousness. This conjunction commences a new 12-year cycle that is infused with the Capricorn imperative to operate from great personal integrity. There is a lot that can be said about it in relation to mundane and personal events, but the only thing that seems important to call out right now is this Sabian symbol’s message that tells us, whether we succeed or fail in our efforts to embody the Capricorn lesson of nobly serving the collective in which we live and are a vital individual part, we will be rewarded if we put in the effort to the best of our ability. To me this is what is being bestowed on President-elect Joe Biden. He does seem to me to be the person for this moment.

Another significant cycle turning point occurs on November 13 when Mars in Aries turns direct after nine weeks retrograde. Aries represents the beginning of a cycle of activity, and the emergence of consciousness, which is implied in this activity. There has been a lot of soul searching during this particular retrograde as it unfolded amidst major intersecting world crises. The Sabian symbol for 16° Aries, “Nature spirits are seen at work in the light of sunset” represents, according to Rudhyar, an invitation to open our minds to the possibility that these unseen forces are at work even in the substratum of our biosphere. It is an invitation, he says, to open our mind “to the possibility of approaching life in a holistic and nonrational, intuitive manner.” This would elevate our approach to these crises to a level where greater opportunities may be recognized. As Mars shifts, it does so in square to the Jupiter/Pluto conjunction, which empowers this new cycle of activity with a mandate to serve the collective. Joe Biden has natal Mars in Scorpio square Pluto in Leo and his strong and passionate victory speech exemplified how he is very much living this spiritual directive.

The New Moon in Scorpio on November 14 is also aligned by sextile to the Jupiter/Pluto conjunction, bringing forth this tremendous force into the new lunar cycle. The Sun and Moon in the sign ruled by Pluto, are thus governed by this intensely expansive and passionate archetype that demands we operate from pure authenticity. Venus in its home sign of Libra forms a square to the Jupiter/Pluto conjunction on November 15, suggesting further that women are empowered in this process of bringing our society back into harmony. On November 19, Joe Biden’s birthday, Venus squares Saturn in Capricorn, indicating the Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris, will be working hard with Biden in the process of healing the soul of the nation to be more whole, inclusive, fair and balanced. Her very presence in this role symbolically represents that movement.

The Sun in Scorpio goes on to form a sextile to Saturn in Capricorn on November 18, emphasizing the mandate to cooperate with each other and to focus our efforts on working through the challenges that lay before us to re-unify our highly polarized society (both Biden at greater than 76 million and Trump at more than 71 million broke the previous record for a vote count). Democracy has always been a messy experiment and the U.S. has yet to live up to its ideal of equality for all. The road ahead, to inauguration day and beyond, will be extremely difficult yet if we put in the effort needed to serve our magnificent collective of creative individuals, we will be rewarded. If 2020 has taught those of us paying attention anything, it is that we have been doing the hard work of purging that which is not authentic so we can begin the new cycle in a refreshed, regenerated state.

On November 21, the Sun commences its annual sojourn through the sign of Sagittarius, to remind us yet again to treat the process of learning how to live together as a work of art. While we all have our strong opinions, as varied as our individual natures, if we endeavor to break free of the algorithms that reinforce a homogenous, myopic view of the world, and reach out and experience what life is like for another person, another culture, or any other frame of reference that is not our own, maybe we can mutually discover the joy in celebrating our uniqueness as well as the rich tapestry we create in the process of figuring out how to live together in harmony. This is what gives uncontainable joy and meaning to the reality we share