Highlighted Aspects this Week
THE PRESSURE is on — just in case you’ve been wondering. This week we have two Main Attractions: the fourth Pluto-Uranus square (Friday) and a Solar Eclipse / New Moon (Sunday). Either of these planetary events by themselves would indicate a turning point or a transition time — to have them within three days of each other is a bit like trying to jump rope and run a hurdles course at the same time.
On top of that, our physical sun has roared to life this week, spouting two X-class (the highest magnitude) flares and at least nine M-class (second highest magnitude) flares over the past three days. Solar flares send waves of electromagnetic radiation into space. If they are Earth-directed (as several were this week), we humans must receive that electromagnetic energy and integrate it.
If you’ve been feeling more emotional, tired, or reactive than usual, any of these events — the eclipses, the Pluto-Uranus square, or the solar flare-up — could be seen as having a causative effect. This is one of those times when the line Bette Davis speaks in the movie “All About Eve” keeps coming to mind: “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.”
TAKING the week’s events in order of occurrence, we need to talk about a few other items on our long list of “highlighted aspects” before we settle in to discussing the Main Events. (Subtle warning that this is likely to be a long Journal today.) Several planets are around the 10th degree of the sign that they’re currently inhabiting, creating multiple exact aspects (angular relationships defined by the number of degrees separating two planets).
Think of this as a conference call, with a lot of people on the line. The planets involved in our chat this week are Pluto in Capricorn; Saturn, the Sun, the Moon, North Node and Mercury in Scorpio; Mars in Virgo; Uranus in Aries; and Chiron in Pisces.
If that sounds like there’s a lot going on, you’re right — like one of those conference calls where everyone tends to talk at once, or there are several different agendas being promoted at the same time. It can be hard to focus on one specific conversation thread or theme, and very easy to feel overwhelmed or frustrated.
GIVEN that astrology reassures us that things happen for a reason, it’s no coincidence that this conference call happens the same week as the Pluto-Uranus square and Solar Eclipse. Because this could get complicated (as if it isn’t already!), I’m going to separate out the different components into bullet items:
- The line-up in Scorpio, especially the Saturn-Mercury alignment on Tuesday, tells us there’s something important to be learned during the conference call. Remember that Mercury is retrograde right now, so it’s important that we take the time to review our facts and rethink our motivations. There is potential new (and deeper) understanding that will affect our choices going forward.
- With Chiron in on the call, especially in opposition to Mars, we’re being provided the opportunity to heal our need to always be in control. We may feel our survival depends on having our fingers in every pie, or our egos may base their fulfillment on feeling indispensable. Either way, Chiron in Pisces is humming along in the background, like static on the line that interferes with our being able to feel fully in control of the situation. (It’s hard to maintain control of a meeting when every other word we speak is interrupted or inaudible.) This requires that we let go of how we thought the call “should” go, and that we learn to trust the process.
- The alignment of the Sun with the North Node (which represents our collective path of greatest growth) shines a spotlight on our movement away from being comfortable with being uninformed. The North Node in Scorpio is telling us that it is important to see truth, even if that truth is uncomfortable or disrupts our placid cud-chewing (South Node in Taurus). Over the past year, while the North Node has been transiting Scorpio, the amount of hidden information coming to the surface has been amazing. We most likely will see more of same during this week’s conference call.
There will be other voices on the line as well, but this list gives an overview of the main conversation threads. Time to move on to the first Main Attraction:
WE’VE BEEN WORKING with the influence of the ongoing Pluto-Uranus square for at least a year and a half now. Given the impact of these two planets of change, most of us have experienced some major shift in our lives or in our environments (either internal or external) during this time.
Pluto and Uranus are catalysts, pushing us to leave behind the old ways that have become too confining or that no longer resonate with who we are becoming. As a part of the process, Pluto is especially adept at bringing up the old reactions so that we can get clear, once and for all, that we’re done with responding to life in that way. Uranus, in its role, provides the restlessness, sense of urgency, and courage (or foolhardiness) that then results in breakthroughs or break-outs.
THE TWO PLANETS together provide quite a charge of energy. They are difficult — if not impossible — to ignore. And would we really want to ignore the wisdom that these two bring to light? Pluto, with its awareness of how we’ve been disempowering ourselves through attachment to outdated goals and systems (Capricorn); and Uranus, with its insights into where we’ve been abdicating our authentic self (Aries) for the sake of ___________ (fill in the blank).
But, while we can appreciate the purposes and gifts of the Pluto-Uranus dance, it may also be helpful to know that we’re now past the half-way mark of this particular tango. This is the fourth of seven exact squares between the two planets, with the remaining dates of April 21, 2014; December 15, 2014; and March 17, 2015.
OUR SOLAR ECLIPSE on Sunday provides the energy of beginning anew. Taking the themes of the week in sequence, we can see the cosmic wisdom: New understanding and insights, and a willingness to trust the process (the conference call) lead to a shift in our perceptions and attitudes (Pluto-Uranus), which in turn lead to the opportunity to start walking a new path (Solar Eclipse) — or at least to start wearing more appropriate and supportive shoes.
The Sabian symbol for the eclipse location (in the 12th degree of Scorpio) is: “An official embassy hall: Group consciousness as it flowers at the highest level of cultural interchanges…”
Through this symbol, we have another glimpse of what is possible going forward, on a global scale. If we are to engage in “the highest level of cultural interchanges,” we must become our higher selves and access a more expansive level of consciousness. Then, as astrologer Dane Rudhyar’s interpretation of this symbol reads, we can “establish permanent relationships in peaceful cooperation.”
The question is: Are we willing to let go of some outdated forms and the trappings of old habits and ego attachments to gain the higher goals that we aspire to achieve?
I FIND Martin Goldsmith’s symbol for the 12th degree of Scorpio a bit easier to relate to, on an individual level. He offers this image for us to keep in mind as we work with the eclipse energies:
“A frontier woman, dressed in a tiara and an evening gown, makes an entrance at a high-society embassy ball.”
The interpretation of this image includes these phrases:
- Remembering one’s self-worth, no matter what one’s social status
- Creative interaction with the best and the brightest, but keeping one’s individual integrity
- Adhering to a personal code of honor that supersedes social norms and gives a moral center to one’s group
- A strong sense of personal dignity
If we can stay true to these ideals, whether we are working on a personal level or on the global stage, we will be aligned with our own best selves — which is a very positive and powerful way to work with the energies of next Sunday’s Solar Eclipse.
Blessings,
Pam
