AstroCast: September 5 - 21, 2014

The planets get personal for the next couple of weeks.  With no exact aspects between the social (Jupiter and Saturn) and transpersonal (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto) planets, their longer-term configurations that move socio/spiritual mountains fly below the radar.  The “personal” planetary bodies Sun through Mars, which characterize the basic drives of an individual being, take this opportunity to check in with each of the outer planets to help us individualize our experience of the over arching outer planet themes playing out in the world.

Venus appropriately changes her vibration on September 5th when she enters the earth sign of Virgo where the impulse to love manifests as an act of service.  Venus here will seek a deeply pure experience in her love offerings.  As she gives, however, she may need to remind herself that being receptive to love is as much an act of service as giving it, for to allow another being to love her in return keeps the energies of that omniscient life force active and alive.  Venus in Virgo especially can appreciate how free flowing love energy has the power to heal the mind, body and soul, and she must work diligently to ensure a strong love current runs continuously.  Without it she could easily devolve into the hyper-critical, excessively pristine nature that shows up when she is separated from her love center.  This is where allowing herself to receive love can do its magic in neutralizing the potentially hard truth precision analytics she employs in all her relationships.

The Pisces Full Moon on September 8th is known as the Harvest Moon (closest Full Moon to the autumnal equinox) and is also the last of the Super Moons of this summer (closest to the Earth).  The energetic download of this aspect therefore is more potent, perhaps even more urgent than usual.  Virgo and Pisces hold critical positions in the zodiac, each representing the end of a particular stage in the evolution of consciousness: Aries to Virgo characterizes the development of the Self, and Libra to Pisces embodies the development of self in relation to other and society.  Virgo therefore is highly focused on the metamorphosis that occurs the moment we cease living only for self and begin to refocus outwardly on the meaning of interaction with others.  Pisces must assimilate all that has been accumulated from the vast archetypal experience that the previous eleven signs symbolize and ready the being for the next cycle of evolution that begins again with the emergence of self in Aries.  The Sun in Virgo focuses his will on creating something that will serve as a bridge over the critical halfway juncture.  His job is simply to be in a constant state of readiness for transformation, always on edge as he prepares to cross the great energetic divide between focus on self and focus on other.  He is willing to serve in this capacity despite never quite being able to gain the satisfaction, or release, of deployment to the next phase, which happens upon his entry into Libra.  The Moon in Pisces is fully in tune with her sense of completion and is ready to divest herself of all that she has absorbed as she moved through the signs.  She is immersed in the ocean of consciousness, seeing all, feeling secure, able to care for all.  As she opposes the Sun in his quintessential individualized state she is faced with the dilemma of recognizing the value of a consciousness that recognizes boundaries. The Sun, in turn, must be able to see the stability inherent in formlessness.  Without subjugating his formalized being, he can dive into the deep waters of knowing to become one with the other he has been preparing all his life to meet.

September 9th through 13th, Mercury in Libra takes his talking stick on the road to Pow Wow with the chiefs in deep space.  Pluto, Jupiter and Uranus will successively engage Mercury in ways that will deepen his perceptual experience of relationships, expand his knowledge gained from those relationship experiences, and ultimately awaken a new approach to communicating in order to realize a more balanced and neutral way of relating with others.  His square to Pluto in Capricorn, exact on the 9th, intensifies the urge to probe for data overlooked by most, but which could unravel the mystery of a vexing relationship.  Perhaps a bit obsessively, Mercury will dig into his and others’ psyches to reach an acute understanding of any powerful mind games at play that may be undermining the authenticity of relationship structures.  Mercury’s challenge here is to remain in the observer role rather than identifying himself with the need to control how others perceive him.  When he sextiles Jupiter on the 10th, Mercury’s focus segues from depth to breadth perception, focusing on the big picture of the great human relationship.  From the Leo vantage point, Jupiter enhances Mercury’s creative ability and gives him the mental chops to see how each personal bit of data he so loves to collect coalesces into the larger societal patterns at work.  With his encounters of Pluto and Jupiter still fresh in his mind, Mercury’s energetic journey to the outer planets may have a surprising ending when he opposes Uranus in Aries on the 13th.  Ready to integrate transrational thinking into his talking points, his confrontation with Uranus may trigger a compelling urge to make unusual alliances that cracks open a completely different point of view of the relationship between the individual and society.

Underscoring Mercury’s speed mentoring program with a strong work ethic, the Sun in Virgo links in with Saturn in Scorpio in a motivating sextile aspect on September 11th. Their cooperation facilitates focus and discipline, and turns on the urge to shine as a practical and resourceful authority.  Experiencing the joy of mastery makes all the hard work more than worthwhile.

On September 13th, Mars takes his Scorpion survival skills for a six week road test through Sagittarius.  Freedom to explore becomes essential, as Mars in Sagittarius will travel far and wide to fight for a cause.  Whereas Mars in the water sign of Scorpio was deeply passionate and his actions frequently motivated by emotion, in the fire sign of Sagittarius, Mars is fired up by the panorama of high-minded ideas before him.  He may become a wild child who stubbornly rejects the restraints of society that become an uncomfortably tight leash on his exploits.  As he travels the early degree space of Sagittarius, Mars must confront the formidable yet nuanced energy of Neptune in Pisces.  Their hard angled square, exact on September 21st, may force him focus his purpose on those less fortunate.  He has the potential to become the glamorized hero who, spurred by his boundless compassion, frees society from its own limitations.  Neptune tenderizes Mars’ physical contacts to give him a seductive edge but it may be the Archer’s arrow of truth that decides if any union can navigate beyond one magical starry night into a romantic and selfless force to be reckoned with, fighting together for a big picture cause.

September 10th through 21st, Venus in Virgo takes her own pilgrimage to the outer planets.  While Mercury’s excursion is fueled by his basic thrust to make contact, he is operating from Libra, the sign Venus rules, and thus navigates right into her terrain of love and relationships as his main focus of conversation.  Venus in turn is in the sign Mercury rules, and so focuses on formalizing a code of behavior that minimizes chaos that potentially ensues when infinite types of individualized beings attempt to relate to each other.  With Venus and Mercury in “mutual reception,” their expressions blend as their paths with the outer planets intersect.  Venus’ foray begins with an opposition to Neptune in Pisces on the 10th to elevate her sense of etiquette to the sublime.  When true love is operating, protocol becomes simply any act, any word, any look that comes from the heart.  With her ideal relationship clearly in mind, she must nonetheless learn to allow her heart to encompass the ambiguities of human nature.  She may reach a level of clarity when she trines Pluto on the 14th.  With Pluto in Capricorn’s powerful reorganization skills, Venus will be able to establish a solid foundation from which she can give and receive love, and be able to recognize when it is the real thing.  By the time Venus sextiles Saturn in Scorpio (also in mutual reception with Pluto) on the 21st, she may begin to feel a deep stability in her sense of self, becoming a powerful channel for love.

Here’s the data:

Times where noted are Pacific Time Zone.   Degrees where noted are rounded to the nearest whole degree.

September 5th         Venus at 0° Virgo at 10:07 a.m.

September 8th         Moon opposite Sun at 16° Pisces/Virgo at 6:38 p.m.

September 9th         Mercury square Pluto at 11° Libra/Capricorn at 3:38 p.m.

September 10th       Venus opposite Neptune at 6° Virgo/Pisces at 3:51 a.m.

September 10th       Mercury sextile Jupiter at 12° Libra/Leo at 11:37 a.m.

September 11th        Sun sextile Saturn at 19° Virgo/Scorpio at 8:04 a.m.

September 13th       Mercury opposite Uranus at 15° Libra/Aries at 1:16 a.m.

September 13th       Mars at 0° Sagittarius at 2:57 p.m.

September 14th       Venus trine Pluto at 11° Virgo/Capricorn at 7:33 a.m.

September 21st       Venus sextile Saturn at 20° Virgo/Scorpio at 6:03 a.m.

September 21st       Mars square Neptune at 6° Scorpio/Pisces at 8:40 p.m.