January 25th, 2010 - February 1st, 2010
Archives
Weekly Weather Report
by Stephanie Azaria
Significant Planetary Aspects for:
Kathy’s 2010 astro-overview talk is available for $15 in mp3 format. To order, visit EmpowermentUnlimited.net or email kbiehl@fortunaworks.com.
We’re in for a dynamic and memorable week. The pressure of the Saturn/Pluto square is building to the breaking point, the Sun and Venus are confronting retrograde Mars, and he’s joining the Full Moon in regally egocentric, dramatic Leo. It’s time for action!
Life is going to be fast and furious. Get ready for huge, long-awaited shifts.
You’ve been feeling the build-up for at least the past week. The affected areas of your life shouldn’t be a mystery. What’s been running through your mind, no matter what or how many steps you take to turn the subject(s) off? What issue keeps popping up, no matter how many times you bat it down? Life’s been like Whack-A-Mole lately: Each time you beat a problem into submission, a different version of it pokes it head out elsewhere. We are not being allowed to run away anymore. We’ve had warning that certain situations and structures are unsupportable. This week makes it clear that they cannot continue in their current form any longer.
With Saturn in Libra and Pluto in Capricorn, demand for complete and utter overhaul is hitting the foundations of our lives: the ground rules and very existence of relationships of all kinds (interpersonal, familial, business, financial, political), legal contracts and matters, allotments of responsibilities, the extent of reciprocity, chains of authority and command, matters affecting long-term security, the nature of long-term goals, the institutions in our personal and collective lives, and even physical structures. The demand is forcing us to clean up and deal with anything that is not in a condition to support our flourishing over the long haul. Some of what’s popping up are arrangements that have run their course or that fit the participants initially but no longer do. Some are situations with a flaw or weakness that threatens its structural integrity. Some are situations that no longer work in today’s world. Some of them came to our attention during the first Saturn/Pluto square in the middle of last November and are now presenting themselves for further attention.
We’re getting a strong back-to-basics push. There’s no longer room — or, more importantly, resources — for objects, pursuits, relationships and the like that do not enhance or fall within what’s most important in our lives. Cost-cutting is part of the process, sure, but it’s not the real basis. We are no longer squandering time, money and energy on matters that aren’t really important to us, a freeing up that deepens our commitment to and experience of the matters that are. Keep that thought in mind as a guideline as you move through this week. If a fault line opens up before you — and each of us is likely to encounter a few — seriously consider the importance of and the extent of your attachment to whatever is on the other side of the fissure. In your heart of hearts, is it worth building a bridge to what you are being separated from? Is there a different route to reach it?
Taking a proactive approach this week is possible, too. You don’t have to walk through this week gingerly tapping the ground ahead of you in fear that it might give way. You can actively address situations that feel out of balance, on the brink of collapse or simply no longer right for you. Even a modest attack will get results, because this Saturn/Pluto square has the help of Jupiter. He’s making a trine to Pluto, the destroyer and transformer end of the square, which facilitates quick, easy, exponential and ultimately beneficial change. With this, one tiny but well-placed tap could reshape a whole block of metaphoric marble. Jupiter’s aspect to the other end of the square, an inconjunct to teacher/taskmaster Saturn, is pushing us into growth and maturation. The actions we take this week, and the way we handle the shifts that occur, usher us into a new phase of adulthood and personal responsibility — if we don’t step into it first, to pull off what we do this week.
Some astrologers advise closet-cleaning during any intense Pluto transit, as this square is. That action provides a useful analogy for what you can do this week in the bigger picture. When you give your closet a thorough cleaning, an organizer would tell you to separate items into piles. One pile is for items that are in great shape and that you know you want to keep. Keepers that need cleaning, hemming or some kind of other attention or repair go in another pile. Clothes that don’t fit or that you never wear get their own pile, where you could also put items that are fine but you don’t use. Broken, damaged and unfixable items make up the last pile. The first two you keep. The third, you give away. The last one, you throw out. The third and fourth ones are the hardest to let go of emotionally. You may find yourself picking up an object, remembering where you bought it and what was going on in your life and experiencing sadness or nostalgia and great reluctance to give it up. The memories can remain with you, regardless of what happens to the object. Remember the scene in “Harold and Maude” when Maude tosses the ring Harold has just given her into a body of water and explains to her mystified suitor that now she will always know where the ring is. That’s the point we can reach this week with many of the trappings of our lives.
Some of what comes up this week will reawaken matters from early November, when the Sun and Venus oppose Mars as he crosses back over the degrees he first visited then. Whatever comes back around may involve self-expression, a creative project, a relationship or financial matter, or a situation that directly invoked our personal values and ethics. The oppositions to the warrior god also have the power to bring resentments, frustrations, anger and passion to the surface, too, whether they date to last fall or not, and to summon men and romantic interests from the past.
This stirring will take on a very personal tone, because Mars is also tromping over the Moon, just before she meets the Sun in Saturday’s Full Moon in Leo. The Full Moon activates the Leo/Aquarius axis, which runs from the individual’s need to feel special to functioning within a group. This will light up how well we let our voices ring and our light shine (effectively, how much we show and give of our true selves) and how receptive our community is to our gifts. The theme of this Full Moon is measuring how much we are loved and appreciated. It’s taking place close to the degree of last August’s Full Moon lunar eclipse in Aquarius, which also explored the theme of love given and received. How has that issue evolved for you since then? What comes to light under this Full Moon plays directly into the machinations of the Saturn/Pluto square, which is exact one day later. The people and situations that love and appreciate you at your core are deepening, intensifying and growing toward the future. If you are pouring your gifts into people and situations that don’t see their value, look closely. Are you wasting your time and talents, or are you getting something that you value in return? The Full Moon is helping you sort your life into the keepers, give-aways and discard piles. For more on the Full Moon, read my report on the site.
Monday: A raspy week gets off to a raspy start. Interpersonal dealings don’t have a lot of harmony on the surface, but there is a way to navigate them without too much upset. Venus hits friction with Uranus; there’s a point of discomfort in relationships that can’t be brushed off, akin to the irritation of sand inside an oyster. Don’t just squirm or complain in response to the friction; do something about it, especially within yourself. Mercury tussles with Mars by declination and zodiacal degree. One communication after another presents itself as a collision of opposing forces. Your usual mode of attack isn’t going to win. Change your thinking and your approach, and there is a way to get what you want — or steer developments into a direction that will make you feel good about yourself (not necessarily one and the same thing).
Tuesday: There are no aspects at all during the daylight hours EST. Before dawn, the Moon’s aspects to Mars and Mercury — major players from yesterday — inspire our subconscious to go after what we want with and process a new communication approach. Come evening, our hearts are uncomfortable and restless. The later it gets, the more some people are going to be itching for a fight. Prepare in the daylight hours. The Saturn/Pluto square is building, and Venus is approaching her showdown with Mars. Get clear on your priorities. Keeping them in mind will guide you through whatever squabbling other people may want to get into.
Wednesday: Pay attention to what and more importantly who are on your mind as the day starts. Venus opposes Mars shortly after midnight EST and rocks the overnight with desire, flirtation and previously unexpressed passion (or frustration). Dreams move into a sweeter, romantic mode when the Moon trines Neptune an hour later and goes void of course until 9:30 AM. The daylight hours provide a preview of the Saturn/Pluto square and definitely some insight into its personal meaning, as the Moon meets with Pluto and squares Saturn. Personal power or empowerment issues mount throughout the day, in a quiet replay of Christmas Eve. Don’t lose sight of what’s most important to you.
Thursday: If you dreamed or saw something you liked yesterday, today may compel you toward it. Venus meets Pluto by declination, repeating their post-Christmas gathering. Mundane desires merge with primal cravings into fierce and compelling attractions, at one end; love blends with higher will, at the other. There’s no place of easy comfort; friction between the Sun and Uranus stirs the pot — and thoughts of what you’d like to do differently. Contemplate new possibilities during the void, which starts late afternoon with a Moon/Uranus trine and continues into the morning.
Friday: We awaken into a void Moon, which does not end until after 9 AM EST. The void’s long restfulness gives way to a day colored by the Sun’s opposition to retrograde Mars. You can choose to engage in arguments or battles of will, or you can watch for pieces of your passions, your creativity, your joy for living and yourself that may have dropped away during the fall. Everything that happens today is information for tomorrow’s Full Moon and Sunday’s Saturn/Pluto square.
Saturday: The Leo Full Moon takes place while many of us are sleeping, at 1:15 AM EST; the Sun parallels Venus three hours later. Dreams help us sort issues of love — who loves us for ourselves, who we love and appreciate, and who and where we are receiving shortfalls. The wrap-up focuses on the positive, which will stay with us for the remainder of the day. Ride on the energy by reaching out to the people who are dearest to you and expressing your appreciation for them. We are building communities of mutual support and nurturing — mutual admiration societies, in the words of the old song — that will carry us into and be with us in the future.
Sunday: It’s a day of change. Even minor shifts will, in retrospect, prove to be major. Mars agitates Uranus as the warm-up to the Saturn/Pluto square locking into place. Nothing is going to let us slide through the day. Churning in the gut is a signal that change is coming, no matter how much trepidation that prospect brings you. Physical activity will help you vent some of the energy and prepare you to approach the day more calmly. This weekend, and probably the past two weeks, are a dividing line between life as it was and life as it is becoming. Keep your priorities at the forefront of your mind. Don’t lose sight of them. Your circumstances are shifting to strengthen them.
Visit Kathy’s site EmpowermentUnlimited.net for podcasts, mp3s, a discussion forum and more on the eclipses, the Aquarius/Pisces traveling party and the Saturn/Uranus opposition. To join her mailing list, send e-mail to kbiehl@fortunaworks.com.
