August 25 to 31
Mercury Direct and Mars Saturn Square
The big news today is that Mercury is stationing direct, after 3 years weeks retrograde. The exact station is at 4:03 pm MST. Be aware that the time of the station is where Mercury is moving verrrrry slowly in the sky. So today is a bit wonky, dreamy-in other words, we’re not quite out of the woods yet. The good news is that we still have a bit more time to polish and refine the work we’ve been doing that we have not been ready to launch yet-and to get it out or up first thing next week.
Yesterday Mars and Saturn were square, generating quite a bit of tension and friction, with the underlying message being-get up, get moving, apply yourself to making your dreams happen, because they won’t manifest without your active participation. To the degree that we haven’t “blown off steam” through applying ourselves to our goals full heartedly, and not releasing tension through physical movement, we might have found ourselves to be a bit cranky and easy to spark.
My partner and I have a Mars Saturn opposition between our charts, so we can sometimes get into power struggles. I confess I am the Mars in this equation-usually igniting the conflict. There’s a whole lot more love than struggle, but this dynamic does arise. We’ve been playing cards in the evenings this week, and after a very big losing streak I lost it, suddenly transforming into a bratty four-year-old. Mars square Saturn can look like this when we don’t use their energy skillfully! We still have access to their potent energy, so today and tomorrow are good days to get things done and prepare for a very active and productive next week.
Neptune and Chiron Opposition
Last week, as Mercury slowed to a standstill, Chiron and Neptune both opposed the Sun and Venus. On Sunday’s New Moon, they are in near exact opposition to the New Moon in Virgo. So we have been feeling-and through next week will continue to experience-their contribution. I’ve been doing a lot of readings for clients lately who are experiencing Neptune and Chiron cycles-in dynamic relationship to an earthy sign or planet.
It seems to me that we have all been tutored by Neptune these past months to release our attachment to narrowly defined goals and outcomes. We are releasing our old relationship to work, to duties, to the old “shoulds.” Instead of those old patterns we are opening ourselves up to Grace, to Visionary Inspiration, and allowing the lost place Neptune puts us in to open us up to the magic of life, and new, juicy visions. Chiron has been helping us to remain compassionate and vulnerable through this process, with ourselves and with others.
Now, with this Saturn Mars square followed by the Earth Grand Trine (see below) and the New Moon in Virgo, we are being asked to ground and commit ourselves fully to the goals and dreams that have begun to crystallize for us over the past months. We are asked to move whole heartedly into the future with trust and full presence, though we still may not fully grasp the long term outcome. New Moon in Virgo and Earth Grand Trine
On Sunday at 9:04 pm, we are graced with the New Moon at 5 degrees Virgo, quite close to royal star Regulus. This provides us with yet another preparatory download for the upcoming shift of the star from the sign of Leo to Virgo in late November. Of course Venus is nearby as well, still in the Underworld as she receives her own wisdom from this aspect.
I’ve explored the significance of Regulus’s current position at 59’59 Leo in a previous article, now is a perfect moment to explore the significance of its entry into the sign of Virgo. If, as some astrologers believe, this movement is a prominent signpost of our Age Shift, then the mystery school of Virgo holds a key as to what that shift is actually about.
As I have learned from my teacher, Daniel Giamario, the feminine signs of the water and earth elements are concerned with bringing Spirit into Matter. This New Moon auspiciously activates a Grand Trine in the Earth (feminine) Signs between Jupiter in Taurus (which stations retrograde next Tuesday-making it a very powerfully felt presence), Pluto in Capricorn, and the Sun, Moon, and Venus in Virgo. Add to this the fact that Venus is currently in a Scorpio Overtone cycle, and we see that the awakening Sacred Feminine is a critical component of this shift.
Virgo’s intent is to bring spirit into matter so as to consecrate it, make it sacred. The Virgin Priestess, the archetype held for Virgo women, is she who reconnects human culture to the natural cycles and pulse of Earth’s rhythm. It is Virgo who is most closely associated with Gaia-as the priestess she is the one who feels the aliveness of the creation and transmits this knowing into human consciousness through ceremony. She is also connected to Spider Woman-the Goddess who weaves the creation into being, and comprehends the sacred pattern behind life.
Virgo is also connected to the realm of the sacred work. She is not concerned with career or prestige. She is driven to excel in her heart’s deep work-what she alone can devote herself to, then provide as a contribution toward making the world whole. Virgo is always of service-to something bigger than herself. Her art, her music, her dance, her novel, her poetry, her healing work, her spiritual service-all of it is a song of praise to the Creation.
She is impersonal, this Priestess-so different in this way than Leo! If we consider the possibility that humanity has already mastered the Leo training of Self Love, and becoming the Creator, then we can imagine the possibility that the next step on our journey is to extract some attention from our individual journey and apply our skill as Creators toward the joyful challenge of re-patterning of human culture in harmony with the Earth’s pattern.
The Still Point
I believe that this coming week, we have a phenomenal opportunity to experience the “Still Point” effect. This is the moment or way of relating to time where everything has sped up so fast that suddenly time stops, and everything feels immensely still, potent, and connected. Tune in this week and see if you understand what I mean. I think that this is how we will experience time more and more into the future.
I see this occurring this week because of 3 factors: Mercury stations direct (slow down, dreamy effect), Jupiter in Taurus stations direct (Taurus already has the capacity to live in the moment like no one else–and now it is also at a standstill), and the Grand Trine in the Earth Signs. A trine is a planetary relationship that is marked by its lack of movement or activity. I am seeing it, in this moment, as the underlying supportive dynamic that helps us practice and deepen our capacity to live within the Still Point.
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