Aspects of Note This Week
All times listed are Pacific Daylight Time. For Greenwich Mean Time, add 7 hours.
MON: Sun sesquiquadrate Jupiter, Saturn goes retrograde
TUE: Saturn conjunct South Node, Venus trine Ceres, Mercury sextile Mars
WED: Mercury square nodal axis, Mercury square Saturn, Uranus semisquare Neptune
THU: Mercury square Pluto, Mercury trine Jupiter
SAT: New Moon 3:45 p.m. PDT
SUN: Mars quincunx Pluto, Mars opposite Jupiter
AS WE TRAVEL THE ROAD that takes us from April to May, three compelling planetary events provide the backdrop for our journey, while a handful of other
aspects reveal either smooth stretches or the challenges of uneven pavement.
Two
of the more significant events are linked together: Saturn goes
retrograde on Monday, and then exactly aligns with the South Node on
Tuesday.
WHEN A PLANET
comes to a standstill, whether to go retrograde or direct, its
influence becomes heightened in our experience. We usually feel this for
a week or more on either side of the exact date, since the planet is
virtually motionless throughout that time.
Last
week, on April 24, Pluto made its station, and this week -- on April
29, just five days later -- it's Saturn's turn to change direction. This
overlap of their concentrated energies is making this a very pivotal
time. Pluto is the great Transformer, lord of the underworld, and rules
over major life transitions, including the passage into the afterlife.
Saturn is Father Time, lord of karma,
and tests our strength and discipline.
Both
planets are in Capricorn, which rules over the structures that we rely
on to be solid and strong. Pluto is revealing where certain systems are
faulty, while at the same time, Saturn is testing their strength. As a
result, we are seeing breakdowns in areas we perhaps had thought were
dependable.
In
our personal lives, this effect is concentrated in the area of life
represented by the house that contains 20 to 23 degrees of Capricorn. If
we have planets or points in our birth charts at those degrees, we will
most likely be feeling this impact on a very personal level.
THE LONG-TERM IMPLICATION of
all of this activity is increased because the South Node is also
currently moving through those same degrees of Capricorn. And, in fact,
Saturn exactly aligns with the South Node on Tuesday of this week.
The
South Node represents our pull into patterns of the past that no longer
serve us. While this node is in Capricorn -- and especially while it
aligns with Saturn -- we observe tendencies to fall into the negative
qualities that can be associated with both Saturn and Capricorn: fear,
control, melancholy, pessimism, resentment, rigidity, selfishness, the
suppression of feelings, and a lack of
empathy. In
essence, the South Node is telling us that the old methods we used to
use to survive -- basically, putting blinders on to our feelings and
perhaps to the emotional needs of those around us -- are no longer
viable.
THE NORTH NODE,
always exactly opposite the South Node, reveals the positive qualities
we must develop in order to evolve. With the North Node in Cancer, we
are called to become more caring, not less. We are called to choose
trust over fear and control, inspiration over pessimism, and
understanding over resentment. We are also encouraged to express
our feelings instead of suppressing them, and to become more creative
and intuitive in our approach to life.
Saturn
will align with the South Node one more time this year, on September
27. But, Saturn and the South Node will be joined at the hip throughout
August and September, never separated by more than two degrees. This
makes that entire two-month period very significant for our collective
evolution. At that point, we should be able to look back at late
April/early May and see connections between the two
time frames, further clarifying the lessons of this alignment.
AS IF our
table wasn't already full enough, our planetary waitstaff deliver
another course this coming week. On Wednesday, we have the final (of
five) exact semisquares between Uranus and Neptune. This is a very
long-term influence, one that we've been working with since the middle
of 2017. This week represents the culminating experiences
related to this aspect, wrapping up its lessons.
While
a semisquare is often thought of as being a "minor" aspect, any
relationship between two slower-moving planets can be significant. In
this case, especially, since Uranus and Neptune are both transpersonal
planets, we are considering some deeper questions related to our ongoing
process of awakening.
URANUS AND NEPTUNE
traveled side-by-side in Capricorn throughout the early 1990s, and were
exactly conjunct three times in 1993. Although both of these planets
can have substantial impact on our mundane experience, they also help us
to transcend the limitations of the physical plane — Uranus working on
the level of the mind, and Neptune working
on the level of the heart.
In
the early '90s, many of us experienced a sudden and perhaps shocking
change (Uranus). Events that occurred may have at first evoked disbelief
and disillusionment (Neptune), but over time, they eventually opened
the door to new growth in consciousness. Those events woke us up in some
way, burning away areas of fog that had been limiting our
self-awareness.
THIS SEMISQUARE is
the first challenging aspect between Uranus and Neptune since their
alignment in 1993. In essence, we are sitting for our first major exam
covering everything that we've learned spiritually over the past 26
years. We are being required to take another growth step in
consciousness, to dissolve another layer of the veil
that has separated us from one another and from our divine selves.
Uranus
and Neptune are compelling us to expand our capacity for higher-level
thought and sensitivity. Our yearning to attain this evolutionary growth
deepens every time we experience the lower-vibrational manifestations
of the two planets — the erratic and destructive behaviors associated
with Uranus, and the deception and disillusionment linked to Neptune.
I
feel it's safe to say we've been experiencing a lot of that frequency
in the past two years, since this semisquare began to work with us. And,
it would be easy to fall into a pit of apathy, based on a sometimes
overwhelming feeling of futility. And yet, we want to ask ourselves --
what has been (and is) the higher purpose of all of this? This type of
question connects us with the higher frequencies
of Uranus and Neptune, and opens the door to that next expansion of
consciousness which so many of us long to walk through.
A NEW LUNAR CYCLE begins on Saturday, May 4, at 3:45 p.m. PDT, when the Sun and Moon align at 14°10′
Taurus. Significant components of the New Moon chart include a
Mercury-Pluto square (exact on Thursday), a Mars-Jupiter opposition
(exact on Sunday), a Venus-Saturn square (exact on May 7), and a
Sun-Neptune sextile (exact on May 8).
We
generally think of peaceful, methodical progress when we consider
Taurus. And, certainly, we can use the New Moon in this sign to set our
intentions for creating more beauty and serenity in our lives. However,
the other aspects tell us that we have a few hurdles to overcome along
the way.
MERCURY'S SQUARE to
Pluto perfects on Thursday, so we'll be aware of some differences of
opinion and some frustrations toward the end of the week. Anger is
easily triggered, especially if we feel we're not being heard by someone
in authority. The verbal push-pull increases over the weekend,
magnified by Mars in verbose Gemini opposing
Jupiter in dogmatic Sagittarius. The fall-out might affect personal
relationships and business alliances by the time of the Venus-Saturn
square next week.
Our
saving grace appears in a couple of ways: the Sun-Neptune sextile is a
subtle influence, but it provides the opportunity for us to tap into the
higher qualities of compassion, understanding, and surrender as we deal
with practical concerns. This aspect also enables us to provide
grounded spiritual support to others. And, next Monday, Mercury leaves
impatient Aries and enters stable Taurus, helping
slow down our responses and giving us time to think before we act.
IF YOUR BIRTHDAY IS THIS WEEK: This coming
year asks you to realign with what you truly value. You
are also remembering what it means to take care of yourself -- both your
emotional well-being and your personal health -- even if others expect
you to self-sacrifice. This is your opportunity to base your self-esteem
on who you are, rather than on what you do, and to know your worth as
an individual, not dependent on another's validation. (Solar Return Sun quincunx Ceres)
In Gratitude and Light,
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