COSMIC WEATHER
The beginning of something has significance, and what happens in the sky relates to what happens on Earth. The process of individuation involves working with the personal planets, moving through the asteroid belt, then on to the trends of the social planets, with Saturn as the first level of boundary. Balancing the benefits of these key ingredients, and moving through the acculturated limitations allows the crossing of the Centaur bridge where Chiron leads to the transpersonal planets; here, Pluto as the second level boundary. The transpersonal planets are challenging bodies, requiring awakening, flow, and presence before integration and groundedness push out to the new level boundary, Sedna. Understanding these dynamic energies, as demonstrated through the ever-changing cosmic weather, allows a greater ability to live connected to purpose and meaning.
The Sun is the Invincible Spirit. So great is this universal wonder that it must come in small doses, distributed as it travels around the Zodiac over the course of a year. The Sun's position symbolizes the active presence of the Divine. The Sun enters the sign of Libra on Tuesday September 22, 2020 at 9:31 AM EDT. Libra looks towards justice, fairness, and balance. Libra's energy is relational and focused on aesthetics in every nook and corner of reality, from color and form to the grace of social interaction. The Sun will enter Scorpio on October 22 at 7:00 PM EDT.
The Moon is the Receiver. As the Sun energizes her, she receives and moves through her angular relationship with him over the course of the month. She delights in shape-shifting. She delights in the repetitive ebb and flow from night to day, from New to Full in predictable sequence. She reflects the Sun's invincible spirit through her silver light. We see this dance every month, beginning at the New Moon, timed for the Moon's alignment with the Sun. The alignment connects soul with spirit. The October New Moon occurred on Thursday October 16, 2020 at 3:31 PM. The Sabian Symbol for this event at 23 + Libra is: A butterfly spreads its wings, showing an extra left one.
HIGHLIGHTS 2020-2023
Saturn and Pluto joined with the Sun on Jan. 13, 2020 at 22 degrees Capricorn on the node of Saturn, with Jupiter not far behind. 2020 took off. On a mundane level, the pressure being applied to the US Pluto position of 27 + Capricorn is bringing forth an immediate need to build transcendent structures socio-politically. On a natal level, the same principle applies. We are at an evolutionary precipice, built on the Jupiter-Neptune square of 2019 and the Saturn-Pluto conjunction of 2020. Enduring confinement, facing the elephant in the room in the now, we are being called to move beyond the past to create the future. The most recent and upcoming eclipses are intensifying the flow.
THE ECLIPSE SEASONS
Eclipses occur in pairs or trios, and the effect can be felt two weeks prior to the first one as things heat up, the weeks between, and two weeks after the last one. This is called the Eclipse Season. In 2020, we have three Eclipse Seasons. The energies can be touched off at various times before or after the actual event, by transit of the Moon's nodal axis, or by the Sun, Moon, or Mars. Solar eclipses occur at New Moons, when the Moon covers or blocks the Sun, and casts a shadow on the Earth's surface. Lunar eclipses occur at Full Moons, when the Earth passes between the opposing Sun and the Moon creating a shadow across the Full Moon. The exactitude of the alignment defines the type (total, annular, partial, appulse). Eclipses resonate at different levels of consciousness. Solar eclipses suggest beginnings; Lunar eclipses suggest endings. Because the Sol-Lunar alignment involve the Moon's nodal axis, eclipses have a "destiny" quality to them. While there is a personal impact, with the position in the zodiac determining focus, the mundane impact is obvious in the making of history. The dates for 2020 are listed below:
- December 26, 2019 Annular Solar 4 CP 07 Impact felt after: March 22, 2020.
- January 10, 2020 Appulse Lunar 20 CN 00 Impact felt before: May 4-5, 2019
- June 5, 2020 Appulse Lunar 15 SG 34 Impact felt after: March 1, 2021
- June 21, 2020 Annular Solar 00 CN 22 Impact felt before: April 25-26, 2020
- July 5, 2020 Appulse Lunar 13 CP 38 Impact felt before: Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 2019
- November 30, 2020 Appulse Lunar 8 GE 38 Impact felt after: August 6, 2021
- December 14, 2020 Total Solar 23 SG 08 Impact felt before: Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 2020
PLANETARY LOCATIONS
Mercury has 3-4 Retrograde (Rx) cycles every year, each lasting approximately 3 weeks, and each offering a period of reflection, recalibration, revision, and resolution, as Mercury and the Sun exchange the message of a particular degree of the Zodiac. At this New Moon, Mercury is Retrograde at 11 + Scorpio, will remain in reverse motion until November 3. We need to go deep, here.
The Venus cycle is complex and mysterious, beginning while Retrograde as an Evening Star, moving through conjunctions with the Sun, and shifting from Evening Star to Morning Star, and back. It allows Venus to recalibrate her relationship to the Sun. When an Evening Star--calm, mature, settled, and knowing her brilliance, as Venus is best seen outside the clutch of the Sun--she begins her new cycle. Venus began her new cycle on May 13, 2020, with a turn Rx at 21 + Gemini. She stationed Direct on June 24. Still a Morning Star, she is rushing forward into love and life for approximately 9 months, exemplifying the feminine as the container of gestation. At this New Moon, she is located at 16 + Virgo.
Mars moved into his own sign of Aries on June 27 and stationed Rx on September 9 at 6:23 PM EDT at 28 + Aries. In October, Mars will square Pluto, oppose the Sun, and square Jupiter. On November 12, Mars will station to turn Direct on November 15 at 15 + Aries. The energy is strong and potentially volatile; keeping the vibration high and positive is a good strategy. At thsi New Moon, Mars is 20 + Aries, Retrograde. Mars works best with a mission, so set a goal and aim to reach it. Build stamina and muscle where it is needed. Mars is heading towards a conjunction with Uranus in early Taurus in January, 2021.
Jupiter is currently Direct at 19+ Capricorn, and still clustering with the energy of Pluto and Saturn. Having aligned with Pluto on April 4, and June 30, there will be one more contact on November 2, before joining Saturn in Aquarius at the Winter Solstice, 2020. In Capricorn, Jupiter is in its fall, and working through Saturn. This means that Jupiter's expansion is driven by hard work, discipline, and restriction. A word of caution: Be alert to "world-weariness" and factor in some joy for self-care.
Saturn briefly entered the sign of Aquarius on March 21, 2020, just after the Spring Equinox. This significant ingress at the significant degree seeded the developments we can expect in the upcoming 3 years. Having retrograded into Capricorn, Saturn is now Direct and stands at 25+ Capricorn at this New Moon. Saturn is moving toward the long awaited alignment with Jupiter on the Winter Solstice, 2020 at 0 + Aquarius.
URANUS, NEPTUNE, PLUTO, the NORTH NODE and SEDNA: Twists and Turns
The outer planets push us toward the transpersonal realm of consciousness. The twists and turns of these bodies facilitate our evolution, sometimes disturbing the peace of mind. Uranus, the Awakener, entered the sign of Taurus in March, 2019, and will remain there for the next 7 years, pointing to practicalities and resources. Active players in the shift in consciousness, Uranus and Saturn, in their 7 degree fixed square (Taurus-Aquarius) in early 2021, will break traditions, control revolutionary ideas, and emerge with new solutions. This is a time of potential brilliance. A saying from the Upanishads comes to mind: "Lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to immortality." Bring in the Light! Uranus turned Retrograde on August 15 and holds steady at 9 + Taurus. Uranus will turn Direct on January 14, 2020.
Nebulous Neptune, bringing the vicissitudes of the tides forward, has been Rx since June 23, 2020, happily in its own sign of Pisces. Neptune is diving further into the oceanic fog of chaos and confusion, prompting the question: Where is the truth? With germs, hospitalizations, compassion, service, and suffering a focal point, Neptune's ethereal nature continues to deliver the surreal dreamlike kaleidoscope of the shifting reality. Neptune is currently at 18 + Pisces, Retrograde, and will turn Direct on November 28.
Unequivocal Pluto is steamrolling the reality we once knew. Clustered with Jupiter and Saturn, Pluto is ensuring that transcendent structures are being formulated in the perspective shift from "before" to "after". Direct at this New Moon, Pluto is at 22 + Capricorn.
The transiting Nodal Axis has begun its Rx travel through the polarity of Gemini-Sagittarius. Rudhyar described the nodal line as a fateful, destined space. The outer planets provide the context for collective consciousness, and have been driving home the need to review the past, release enmeshed patterns, and to approach structural revision on the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal levels. Working to generate awareness of social and global impact, the Nodal Axis is currently at 21 + Gemini-Sagittarius. There is much busy-ness and thrust of opinion.
SEDNA lies beyond Saturn's Chaldean boundary, and beyond Pluto's transpersonal boundary. Considered by some to be the new outermost planet in our solar system, Sedna offers a new boundary, one related to a spiritual evolutionary consciousness. Sedna is situated at 28 + Taurus, at the Pleiades/Seven Weeping Sisters Fixed Star Cluster (29 degrees of Taurus). The Seven Sisters have something to cry about--the way we live, our use of resources, our vulnerability despite the bluster. Slowly, Sedna moves into Gemini in 2024.
