Thanks to Lucas2012infos Posted January 28, 2013
Highlighted Aspects this Week
IT IS INCREDIBLE that we are already saying good-bye to January and beginning February this week. It feels like we’ve been catapulted into the new year — and things don’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
As we begin the week, Uranus aligns with the asteroid Pallas Athene in Aries. Since Pallas was the mythological goddess of both Wisdom and War, this alignment can have very different effects, depending on our individual tendencies. In the positive, it provides the fuel for new ideas and insights, especially in the fields of science and technology. However, it may also ignite some fires that have been smoldering recently, especially rebellions being waged in the name of social reform or human rights.
WEDNESDAY appears to be the most energized day of the coming week, through activity involving three of our outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. The first of these, Jupiter, is virtually at a standstill in Gemini throughout the week, preparing to go direct on Wednesday after being retrograde (moving backward) since October 4.
A planet’s influence is heightened when it is stationary, and so we may feel that everything is exaggerated now — especially things that fall under Gemini’s jurisdiction: communications (words flying fast and maybe not well thought-out), information (emails out of control, Google-driven activities), nervousness and restlessness, interesting ideas but perhaps too many to digest all at once.
It makes me think of one of my favorite Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy movies, called “Desk Set.” The storyline is about a new “electronic brain” called EMERAC (an early computer) that is brought in to a reference library to “assist” the existing personnel. The scene that comes to mind is when EMERAC gets overloaded and cannot handle the questions being asked, and comes up with jibberish — and LOTS of it (spewing papers, blinking lights, handing out pink slips to everyone, including the company president — you get the gist). Of course, Katharine IS able to handle the crisis and order is restored — and she also wins over Spencer in the process.
But, I digress…
IN THE POSITIVE, since Jupiter is ruler of higher wisdom, generosity, humor and optimism, all of these attributes may also be on the increase this week. And, as Jupiter starts to move forward over the coming weeks, we have opportunities to build on the deeper insights and higher wisdom that have come to our awareness over these past four months while the planet has been retrograde.
Astrologer Bil Tierney, in his book Dynamics of Aspect Analysis, writes that when Jupiter goes direct, we can:
“…adopt fresh, new attitudes about how we can enrich and elevate our relationships with others in our community. Our participation then can become more purposeful and fulfilling, allowing us to gain greater social acceptance while still remaining true to the needs of our spirits. We are better able to separate ourselves from previous social standards that have been stifling for our inner growth. If we can remain true to the revelations experienced during Jupiter’s retrograde phase and abide by them, we can be free to follow greater paths of social expression in the future.”
(Please note that I have altered this quote to use the plural “we/our” instead of the singular/masculine “he/his.”)
ALSO ON WEDNESDAY, Saturn squares the Sun — a very different energy from the Jupiter influence, and also from the Uranus effect we’ll talk about in a minute. Because the energies are so diverse, our individual experience of the day (and perhaps the week) will most likely depend on which of the three planets — Jupiter, Saturn or Uranus — is working most directly with planets in our natal charts.
(If you know your birth chart and can track signs and degrees: Jupiter will be working with 6 degrees of mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces); the Saturn-Sun square works with 11 degrees of fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius); and the Uranus influence is most likely to affect 5-6 degrees of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn).
SATURN’S square aspect to the Aquarian Sun on Wednesday is a reality check, where we may see more clearly what activities support our true calling, and which are mere diversions. This may be the time to go through our social calendars and have the courage to disengage from those activities that we are really not passionate about.
With Saturn in Scorpio now, this is about being very honest with ourselves — and with others. Any false enthusiasm will be very easy to see through, and not only may be distracting us from following our true passion — it may also be enough of a disconnect energetically that, on some level, others can sense our discomfort. It’s the Scorpio game of hide-and-seek, where what we hide out of fear becomes what shows up the most in our energy field.
THE THIRD INFLUENCE on Wednesday is a Uranus-Mercury semisquare. This aspect is usually only a minor influence, but because Mercury is actually at the midpoint between Uranus and Pluto (and is exactly semisquare Pluto on Saturday), we may very well experience more of our “eye of the needle” energies throughout the week.
“Eye of the needle” has become my short-hand for the effects of the ongoing Pluto-Uranus square, especially when “triggered” by their interaction with one of the faster-moving planets. I’ll be using that term throughout the coming weeks to draw our attention to times when we should see repeating themes related to our individual and global experience of the Pluto-Uranus energies.
In more specific terms, these energies are the catalyst for the major changes we are going through now, and for the next three years while Pluto and Uranus continue their tango. We are likely to feel more unsettled during these “eye of the needle” times, and find that we must be very self-aware and focused to successfully navigate the energies.
But, on the other side of any of these aspects, if we can stay in balance, we will find new solutions for the problems that have revealed themselves, greater self-empowerment, and liberation from what no longer serves us.
I’LL TALK MORE next week about the major Pisces/Neptune influence that will start to build this Friday when Mars enters Pisces, and increases next Tuesday (Feb 5) when Mercury also enters Pisces. This is setting up an alignment in Pisces that will be in effect for most of February.
If there’s any way you can take the month of February off and go on spiritual retreat, I highly recommend it! Start packing your bags, and be sure to send me an inspiring postcard…
Blessings,
Pam
www.northpointastrology.com / link to original article
