Mars conjunct the Sun

When Mars and the Sun team up, anything is possible.  The energy of desire is made conscious and we KNOW what we want.  When Mars and the Sun meet in Aries, we want something NEW.  And we want it NOW!

There are many different versions of the Sabian symbols, images that speak to the 360 degrees of the zodiac.  The degree of the Mars/Sun conjunction is 28* Aries, and there are some interesting differences between two of them.



Dane Rudhyar's Astrological Mandala gives this image:  A large audience confronts  the performer who disappointed its expectations.   This symbol seems to indicate that when we have high hopes and great expectations, they cannot be sustained for long if these hopes are not met quickly.  This might be relevant to those people who expected something physical to happen on 12/21/12.  No, the aliens didn't come and open a portal for us to escape our earthly life.    What 12/21/12 indicated is that a great cosmic Age ended and a new one began.  So we have a responsibility now to protect and grow this new life.

In Steven Eardley's Revised Sabian Symbols, we seem to have an opposite image.  A crowd applauds a man who shattered a dear illusion.  I love opposites!  They fit so well together, don't they?  This image speaks about exposing hypocrisy and liberating the mind by cutting through false ideas.



We can bear this tension of opposites and say, it is time to let go of expectations of deliverance and take responsibility for our lives and our world.  It is time to expose the hypocrisy of the patriarchal system, that shaped our lives and our world.

Happy Sun/Mars day!

Venus in Taurus: But first, Jupiter is in the sky with the crescent Moon.

                                                           Jupiter


If you go outside tonight, you'll see Jupiter with the crescent Moon high in the western sky.  Moon gazing is in order.  And of course, Jupiter sparkles as it approaches the degree of the Venus transit over the face of the Sun last June.

This past week saw many celestial shifts.  After the splendid Venus/Sun/Mars sacred marriage last weekend, we finally shifted energetically into 2013 with the Aries New Moon on April 10.   Pluto in Capricorn went retrograde on Friday April 12th.   Mercury shifted from watery, dreamy Pisces to fired-up Aries on the 13th.  If you're a bit confused, you're probably not alone.  Give it a few days to let the energy settle.

And early Monday morning, Venus leaves fiery Aries and moves into her garden home in Taurus.  The sacred marriage between Venus/Aphrodite and Mars/Eros last week in the solar bridal chamber united their energies.  A new union of love and desire.  We can all benefit from this new relationship energy.  Work with it consciously because now the energy of our love and our desire is one!  Be your heart-self and do what you love and be with those you love.

Venus in Taurus says, 'If you build it, they will come!'  Our Taurean Venus wants to build something: She wants to plant a garden, build a home, create something lasting, love someone deeply.  Venus in Taurus offers us fertility if we align ourselves with the green, growing powers of nature: our body, our senses and our desire show us the way to what we love.

Venus leads the way into Taurus, the sign of ancient Wisdom--the Wisdom of the Earth.   The Sun follows her on April 19th, and Mars follows quickly behind on April 20th.

Get ready to lay the foundations of your future life.  Taurus energy is made for it!

Cathy

The Aries New Moon 2013: A New Birth.

These are some old and new thoughts about the New Moon and what kind of seeds we could plant.  Take advantage of the Earth's energies and use them to shape your coming year.

The Goddess always works in threes.

                                         Susan Seddon-Boulet, Triple Goddess

 
Astrologers hold that the new year starts not only at Spring Equinox each year when the Sun moves over the equator from Pisces into Aries, but also at the first full Moon in Libra/Aries, which marks religious celebrations around the world; and most especially it begins at the Aries New Moon, since the new Moon initiates timing rhythms for earthly cycles.  This Aries New Moon 2013 is special though, because it is the doorway to the future.  So mark it well.

Just as with the Goddess in her triune form of Maiden, Mother & Crone, there are three steps to this dance:  Spring Equinox marks the physical experience of taking in equal amounts of light and dark, offering us a new balance, a new potential to work with on an instinctual level.  The Full Moon marks a shedding of skin and a new birth, a sacrifice and a resurrection, because now the new Aries energy of Self encounters its need for the Other, a Partner, a bonding with the world.  At this first New Moon of the year, choose to plant the seeds of the wisdom of your heart, which knows what needs to be created this year.  And so on this New Moon, we plant the seeds of the future.  Our future.

The New Moon's energy is seeded with the results of the recent Venus and Mars conjunction, the sacred marriage in the sky that heralds a new cycle of love and desire.  This year, the lovers join with the Aries Sun to imprint their union on our consciousness.   When Venus and Mars unite in the fiery rays of the Sun, you know that this new energy must be brought to consciousness. That's how Love and desire stay true to each other.  The sacred lovers declare, “Be who you are, love who you are, act out of who you are.” 

While common knowledge would hold that Mars is more powerful then Venus here in his own sign of Aries, our Mars is 'clothed in the Sun’  and is consciously uniting with his Lady Wisdom, his inner guidance and spiritual yearnings. One vision of this union is the re-birth of the divine Masculine in the arms of our Lady Wisdom.  That partnering would give rise to real change in our world.

This Aries New Moon draws us down into the depths of creative fire. What kind of life does your Spirit long for?  What do you really desire?  Do you love it or just need it?  Both are acceptable as long as you understand the difference.

One thing's for sure.  This new Aries energy can bring us to a whole new frontier.  Let it!

Until Next Time,
Sweet Dreams! 

The Sacred Marriage of Venus and Mars: A New Chance at Sacred Partnership

On Saturday, April 6^th, we get the chance to unite our heart’s desire with the power to manifest it.  Venus and Mars, those two archetypal lovers, are engaging in the sacred marriage this night.  Once every two years, Venus and Mars join together in the sky in Libra to unite their energies of love and desire. Their objective was to ‘make nice’ with each other.  This year, their bridal chamber is within the bright blaze of the Sun, which only happens every 32 years.  It all happens when the Sun’s primal fires of life return to shine upon the land.   The fact that Venus and Mars begin their new cycle of relationship in the Aries Sun’s glow is another cosmic promise of a new beginning. 

Venus is the power of attraction, connection, bonding, cohesion.  Like attracts like!  It is a blessed gift that here on Earth, we have transformed this primal root energy of creation/destruction into the beauty, power and comfort of Love.  Venus leads us to what we naturally connect to: beauty, art, sex, love, wisdom, Life.  And because Venus/Aphrodite is a goddess, she embodies Feminine Spirit and symbolizes women!  Aphrodite is the goddess of Spirit incarnated in the Body, making the body holy.   

Our bodies tell the tale of who we are this incarnation.  When we reject our differences, we stay stuck in patriarchal thinking.  The old system has taken over.  Our bodies are different: they look different, they function differently.  Instead of ignoring the differences, perhaps we need to explore the knowledge and wisdom they might contain.  It doesn’t mean that there is only one way for a woman or a man to live.  It does mean that women and men have different gifts to contribute to our world.  As Venus/Aphrodite is a female goddess, her blessed gift to women is Wisdom.

Mars is the power of desire, of striving, of attaining, of action and results.  We have been blessed with the power to grow, change, to achieve and to sacrifice.  Mars is the warrior, the protector, the individuality of the ego.  Just what kind of warrior are you?  What is your Mars up to?  What do you desire? 

 I discovered as I got older that the baby boomers—yes my generation—want to stay young forever and they think to do it by holding on to the desires of their youth.  This is not the way to go, people.  As we get older, there are different joys and desires that are much more satisfying.  Each age of life has different personal priorities and goals, as well as larger, social concerns.  Mars is the masculine power to achieve those priorities and goals.  Since Mars is a masculine god, his great gift to men is Integrity.  “Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles and outcomes.” (Wikipedia)   When men are empowered, they stand in their integrity, their honesty, their Truth, their honor, their reliability.   

When Venus and Mars unite in the fiery rays of the Sun, you know that this new energy is important to bring into consciousness.  The lovers declare, “Be who you are, love who you are, act out of who you are.”  While common knowledge would say that Mars is more powerful then Venus here in his own sign of Aries, our Mars is ‘clothed in the Sun’  and is consciously uniting with his Lady Wisdom, his inner guidance and spiritual yearnings. 

Remember, Venus and Mars know how to make love!  Under the light of the Pisces Balsamic Moon, their lovemaking will be filled with great imagination and great compassion for each other.  Their sacred sexuality grounds in these new energies, nurtured by the Piscean moonlight.  Both these planetary energies have just been renewed through the Piscean waters of loss and healing, the fiery transmutation of joining the Aries Sun, and the cultural jolting and re-visioning of the Uranus/Pluto square.   Their lovemaking tonight could remake the world!  Let them renew your hope and love, so that at the Aries New Moon, you’ll plant the heritage seeds of your own future, rather than the GMO seeds of patriarchal compliance.

The Sabian symbol for the union of Venus and Mars at 20* Aries is: Two beautiful white swans feeding in a shimmering lake.  The archetypal image of romantic love and companionship, swans have ever been symbols of sublime beauty, poetic inspiration and devoted love.  An ancient totem of beauty, the Swan awakens the power and beauty of the Self, our spiritual essence.  A herald of new realms and new powers, Swan teaches us how to see our own and others’ inner beauty.  Swans are sacred to Aphrodite/Venus and have ever been the totem of the poet, mystic and dreamer.  Swans mate for life, and so they symbolize the power to see with the eyes of Love.  First see and love yourself so you can see and love another.  And then dream big!

Happy Spring Equinox 2013

 

Spring Equinox in the northern hemisphere arrives Wednesday morning, March 20 at 4:02am Pacific/ 7:02am Eastern time.

This is the beginning of the astrological new year, although some purists will wait for the Aries New Moon on April 10th for that.

On this day of balance between light and dark, we emerge from our long winter's sleep and open up to more sunlight and warmth.  

There's lots of stress in this chart but also some saving graces.  The Sun enters Aries, the sign of the pioneer, the adventurer, the hero.  It's very close to both Mars and Uranus so expect the unexpected for at least the next 3 days - and probably 3 months.  

Mars and Uranus will join up on Friday at 9* Aries: Two hands conjuring over a brilliant crystal ball.  This image indicates we need to work with the imagination, with focused visualizations.  Especially in light of the news right now, we could all focus some love and light toward the Middle East.  We really don't want this energy to be explosive, which it can be if approached unconsciously.

Mars and Uranus square both Pluto in Capricorn (which has been an ongoing square and will be until 2015) and the Moon in Cancer.  The radical change demanded by the Uranus/Pluto square now hits home through the Cancer Moon.  We have to change the way our governments and financial institutions do business.  There will be plenty of trouble in the next 3 months around finances but also around the environment.   The Moon is in Cancer opposite Pluto, so dig deep within for our inner, spiritual resources to get us through these next months.  The Moon's square to Mars and Uranus challenges them to act in a more nurturing way.  Or else, their energy will drain our emotions--ie, we'll get upset!  Think wild boys and a tired mother.  The only way to slow them down is to tell them a story.  So lets find a new story for the Spring Equinox.

The grand trine in the 3 Water signs, Moon in Cancer, Saturn in Scorpio and Neptune, Mercury, Chiron and Venus in Pisces, will help us find that more nurturing story.  We need to use our imaginations to find answers to our pressing problems.  This calming water trine will help us to go within and meditate, so we can send out energy and light through the collective unconscious. 

The story might entail the two swords that are in this chart.  There are 2 YODS, called the Finger of God or the Sword in the Stone.  It is a fateful aspect, but only if you remain unconscious.  Yods usually denote energies that can bring us a fated change or a destined new outlook on life.  If you would be King or Queen of your own life, you need to focus and draw those swords out of the stone.  

The first sword is made up of Saturn in Scorpio sextiling Pluto in Capricorn with their point at Jupiter in Gemini.  Saturn and Pluto have exchanged homes for the moment, so they're happy to work together.  Saturn is finally cleaning out the mess in Scorpio -- left-over violence, betrayal, anger, hurt.  Time to see what we learned from those hard emotions and let them go.  It's time for an emotional rebirth, just in time for Easter.   

We all can see what Pluto is doing to Saturn's Capricorn structures--he's taking his recking balls to decaying structures.  Change won't happen overnight, but at least we can see what needs re-structuring now.  Jupiter in Gemini says, let's expand our understanding of the universe, each other, and ourselves.  Let's look at our limiting beliefs and let them go.   Let's give ourselves room to grow.  Perhaps this is the Sword of Truth.

The second sword has at its base Jupiter in Gemini and Mars/Uranus in Aries.  Hopefully Jupiter can give all that Aries energy ideas to work on--they need something to do to keep them out of trouble.  The point of the sword is Saturn in Scorpio.  This sword needs to clean up its act.  Perhaps like Excalibur, this sword will help defend what we believe in. 

Get ready to move ahead now that Mercury is direct, but remember it's still in watery Pisces until April 13th.  Listen to your dreams, imagine what you'll do with those swords and plan to jump into the fray by the middle of April.

The Cosmos is with us.  We just have to remember to align ourselves with the heavens.

Early October's Shifting Cosmic Energies

The Cosmic Story keeps rocking us to our roots.  Tuesday night, Venus, the planet of love and connection, left Leo, the sign of self-expression and individuation.  Have you acknowledged the people and things you love?  It helps to know what you want now that Venus has moved into Virgo, so listen to your own values and inner wisdom in dealing with people and situations.

On Thursday, Jupiter goes retrograde at 17* Gemini, focusing Jupiter’s curiosity within to check out the facts and figure out what to believe and what old ideas to leave behind.   The Sabian symbol for 17* Gemini is: The head of a robust youth changes into that of a mature thinker.  Take this time until Jupiter goes direct on January 30, 2013, to get your thinking aligned with your heart values.

On Friday, Mercury leaves Libra after joining up with Saturn, focusing the mind on what’s essential to us in our relationships.  Then Mercury goes into Scorpio, digging into what emotional issues have been hidden within your psyche.  It’s time to recognize what you really feel, name it and transform it!

Hours later on Friday afternoon, Saturn also goes into Scorpio, where it will remain for the next 2 ½ years.  Before Saturn moves out of Libra, make sure your relationship karma is renewed.  Let those people who are important to you know!  With Saturn in Scorpio, we will have the opportunity to develop intimacy with others, dropping the old barriers and healing the old wounds that keep us from a deep sharing.  On the outer level, Scorpio deals with shared resources, so it will be interesting to see how we deal with our collective resources in the coming years.  Since it’s still around 100* out west, perhaps we can all acknowledge that global warming is an issue that has to be dealt with.

On Saturday, Mars leaves Scorpio where he battled with dragons and goes into fiery Sagittarius, so watch your energy zoom and stay focused.

Autumn Equinox 2012

 

The Sun goes into Libra at the Autumn Equinox, the 2nd yearly moment of balance of the light and the dark.  This point of balance initiates a new season, the rising darkness and the first seeds of community.  Libra trains us to relate to other people - it helps to deal well with one person before you attempt to deal well with a group.

The Equinox Sun and Mercury in Libra square Pluto in Capricorn and oppose Uranus in Aries, picking up the energy of last week's 60s'square, initiating a time of conscious thought and renewed understanding of the issues affecting our lives and our relationships.  This energy will intensify until next week's surprising full Moon.  Try out new relationship techniques, especially if your old tools no longer work.

As the Sun moves into Libra, we find the Moon has almost reached its first quarter - look up at sundown and you'll see Her right above you.  This Autumn Equinox Moon is in Sagittarius, adding a strong sense of truth and higher purpose to the chart. This Moon will help us discover how to deal truthfully with our relationships.  And perhaps change our philosophy about relationships.  Stay tuned in.

Saturn at the very end of Libra, having taught us valuable lessons about freedom, partnership, equality and justice, adds a deep impact to the Moon's fiery arrows of truth.  Neptune in the beginning of Pisces brings strong messages from the unconscious, dissolving the old relationship patterns and opening us to new possibilities.

Venus and Mars are challenging each other, asking us not to be drama queens but to transform our angry, hurt feelings into understanding and openness.  Venus in Leo rules the South Node in Taurus, pulled by your heart center to discover what you value and let go of the rest.  With a nice hug from Jupiter, there's plenty of love and joy to share.  Mars joins the Scorpio North Node, releasing old pain, fear and anger so the heart values can be served.  Go with the joy!

May your harvest be full and rich, and shared among friends!

Cathy