Category: Celestial Events

What’s So Hot About Aries?

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It’s almost Aries season, which means my dad’s birthday is coming up.

Aries has the reputation of being impulsive, hotheaded, and needlessly aggressive. But that wasn’t necessarily my experience growing up with an Aries dad. Once the astrology bug bit me, figuring out why my Aries dad wasn’t a caricature of everything I had heard Aries was about became my peculiar thunderdome.

Henry Coley, an English astrologer from the 17th century, writes of those born with the Sun in Aries: “…a noble spirited Soul, very courageous and valiant, delights in all War-like Actions, gains victory, and honour thereby, appears a terrour to his Enemies, and thereby makes himself famous in his Generation, sometimes even beyond his Capacity of Birth” (Coley, Clavis Astrologiae Elimata, 54).

Nowadays, Christopher Renstrom writes of those born with the Sun in Aries, “You are independent, uncompromising, and heroic—traits that are too often in short supply but always in demand. Not only do you rely on yourself, but you assume others will rely on you as well. You even welcome it. The last thing you would ever do is let someone down” (Ruling Planets, 117).

Where do these heavy-duty descriptions come from? Let’s pick apart Aries so we can get a handle on why it’s got the valiant warrior archetype baked in.

In the traditional perspective, signs get the bulk of their meaning from the planets that “rule” them. In this case, Mars is the ruler of Aries; everything that falls in these 30° of the Zodiac has to play Mars’ game. It’s as though planets there have been sucked into a battlefield and must figure out what they’re doing there before they get caught up in the crossfire. The middle of an infantry charge is no time for hesitation or equivocation; only direct, immediate action in accordance with a singular goal will do.

The planet Mars, bearing the name of the god of war, absolutely loves it. With his burning heat he can charge into the thick of the battle and level everyone that stands in his way. The fact that Aries is a cardinal fire sign bakes initiative and forward drive into the meaning of the sign as well. Mars is at his hottest and most intense here, though not quite as precise or tactical as he is in his other sign of Scorpio.

Truly, the rule for Aries is “the best defense is a good offense,” and so planets in Aries are forced into the fray, ready or not.

Know who a great example of the archetypical Aries is? The actress Lucy Lawless is a triple Aries, with the Sun, Moon, and Ascendant all there (if her remembered birth time of 6:25AM is correct). Lawless is, of course, most remembered for playing the titular role of Xena: Warrior Princess. I don’t believe I need to say anything else about that.

(Oh, by the way, the Astro-Databank author describes Lawless’ Xena as “beautiful and gloriously husky” and you need to know that.)

The fiery nature of Aries also makes it a sign that operates in the imperative: planets in Aries speak in commands. Demetra George writes of fire signs, “the brilliant illumination of fire compels the events signified by planets in these signs to be seen, and can be correlated to the imperative mood which is the issuance of commands” (Ancient Astrology in Theory and Practice, 163). Anything placed here demands to be seen—and which planet loves most to be seen by others? The Sun, of course.

The Sun in Aries performs in a way that makes it feel not only that its work is appreciated, but also vital. It’s almost as though the Sun knows that its entrance into Aries is what begins the new astrological year.

In other words, Aries has something to prove.

People born with their Sun in Aries are people who understand their purpose in life to be associated with Mars’ pursuits. If not actually charging into battle, someone with their Sun in Aries is telling a story with their lives of the fight to prove oneself. They’ve got something to prove, just as the Sun insists on himself when entering Aries to kick off spring in the northern hemisphere.

The Sun delights in Aries’ single-pointed focus: “ready, FIGHT!”

Moreover, Aries Suns have a peculiar part of their life in which they shine more brightly than any other. This is true of everyone born under the Sun, but it’s especially true for the Sun in Aries; because the Sun is exalted there, the Sun feels special pressure to live up to his brand. This might come across as aggression or a complete lack of inhibitions in the way a person engages with that part of their life.

(To know which part of life this happens in, just look to the house the Sun in Aries falls in!)

That’s the reason why Aries suns get the stereotypes of hotheaded and impulsive heaped upon them. The world, by and large, would much rather exalt caution and equivocation.

Mars, however, as Aries’ ruler, is more than happy to highlight the Sun’s laser focus and get-it-done attitude. Not only that, but—mythologically speaking, of course—since Mars derives his burning heat from being the next planet up from the Sun, he’s quite happy to have his radiant friend over to drink a few beers and light stuff on fire.

It’s worth noting that these reasons amount to why Venus and Saturn have a hard time here. Venus is a peacemaker who wants everyone to have a say, while Saturn delights in studied deliberation and frigid cold, the very things that Mars has forbidden within Aries.

So why is my dad so chill?

Part of the challenge here is sun sign astrology itself. The basic approach to sun sign astrology that most folks are familiar with doesn’t consider the way the rising sign and its ruler, as well as the Moon, all combine to program a person’s way-of-being in the world.

My dad has Gemini rising with Jupiter conjoined the ascendant degree, his ascendant ruler is Mercury in Pisces, and his Moon is in Cancer. He’s much more Jupiterian than he is Martial, for sure.

But remember what I said about every Aries sun having an area of their life in which they’re trying especially hard to prove themselves? For my dad, it’s his 11th house.

My dad has never met a stranger. Every time we went to a gathering, party, or event as a family knew we’d be there for at least an hour after the event itself wrapped up while we were waiting on dad to finish visiting with people he just met that day but seemed to have known for years.

The other part of this story, however, is that my dad’s line of work is public-speaking heavy (he’s a pastor). He shared with me that, for the longest time, he had quite a bit of anxiety about the whole public speaking thing, even after he had gone through the discernment and ordination process in his tradition. To be fair, most people have anxiety about public speaking. It was his Thunderdome.

So as much as he has a lot of comfort and ease in one-on-one or small group interactions within the community, it’s taken quite a bit of work to get that Aries Sun to shine when it comes to public speaking, even though it seems from the chart that he should be a natural (we can draw this story out in further detail from the Sun’s opposition to Neptune in 5, or the square from the Moon in Cancer).

Learning to make your Sun shine at its brightest is life-long work, and if you’re an Aries Sun, you’ve got a leg up on the rest of us. As a reminder, here’s what you’re up against, depending on which house your Sun is in in your chart:

  • First house (Aries rising): Proving yourself through developing your self-concept, health, vitality, and personal agency
  • Second house (Pisces rising): Proving yourself through bolstering your finances and your relationship with abundance
  • Third house (Aquarius rising): Proving yourself through the stories you tell and your ability to communicate
  • Fourth house (Capricorn rising): Proving yourself among your family and the legacy you’ve inherited
  • Fifth house (Sagittarius rising): Proving yourself through your creative works and ability to live with gusto
  • Sixth house (Scorpio rising): Proving yourself through discipline, labor, and responsibility to those who depend on you
  • Seventh house (Libra rising): Proving yourself through one-on-one engagement with others romantically, professionally, or inimically
  • Eighth house (Virgo rising): Proving yourself through how you offer support to other people and grapple with matters of fear, debt, and death
  • Ninth house (Leo rising): Proving yourself through wisdom, faith, philosophy, and the adventures you undertake
  • Tenth house (Cancer rising): Proving yourself through your professional accomplishments
  • Eleventh house (Gemini rising): Proving yourself through your friends, groups, and audiences
  • Twelfth house (Taurus rising): Proving yourself by dismantling your limiting beliefs and grappling with sorrows

Are you an Aries Sun? Looking for insight for the fight with what you’re trying to prove? You’re in the right place.

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Featured image by Mohammed Nohassi via Unsplash

How to Work with Venus in Aquarius

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This past Friday, Venus began a quick journey through Saturn’s diurnal sign of Aquarius. In 2019, she’ll be in Aquarius from March 1st to March 26th. So, how do we work with Venus in Aquarius? How do we understand it?

Often people with Venus in Aquarius placements get stereotyped as being “aloof” in matters of relationships and love. I’d like to pop that bubble, and to do it, I’m going to use vaporwave.

But first, hit play on this to get into the mood:

If vaporwave is an a e s t h e t i c, Venus in Aquarius was a s c e t i c, which is a vaporwave joke as much as it is a wordplay joke.

Fans of vaporwave (myself included) know that part of what makes vaporwave great is finding beauty in the basic, the banal, the old and weird. It just so happens that the basic, the banal, the old, and the weird are natural descriptors of all the people, places, and ideas ruled by the planet Saturn. That includes, of course, ascetics.

Because Aquarius is ruled by Saturn, we can import all of those ideas into understanding the way that planets in Aquarius behave. It’s quite a bit different than the way planets behave in Capricorn: we’re highlighting ideas here. The ideas and ideals that Aquarius signifies involve thresholds and marginalized people, folks and things who the world is ready to overlook, pass by, or throw away.

Vaporwave artists and fans love that stuff, though. While the world ignores Windows 95 sound effects, K-mart muzak tapes, Grecian statuary, and early 90s computer graphics as relics of bygone eras, vaporwave artists delight in the weird and the wonderful found therein. Then, using the magic of nostalgia, they turn it into delicious, lo-fi art.

(You can probably tell I’m an Aquarius rising because I’m using vaporwave, of all things, to talk about Venus in Aquarius.)

It comes down to this, though: because of its use of weird and banal bits of nostalgia, vaporwave is a polarizing a e s t h e t i c; you either love it or you hate it. I don’t know anyone who is really “ehh” when it comes to it.

And Venus in Aquarius is like this: she binds well with people who have clear understanding of what their tastes are. You either love Venus in Aquarius or you don’t. Or rather, she either loves you or she doesn’t. But it’s not about passions running hot or cold. Venus’ decisions in Aquarius are all in her head, and she knows what “works” based on theory.

If Venus in Leo loves effusively, Venus in Aquarius loves based on staid, rational decision-making; she loves based on your commitment to the ideas and values that you hold in common with her. It’s the difference between fixed fire and fixed air: one is fixed on the act of loving, while the other is fixed on the reason loving.

Which brings me back to vaporwave: the whole a e s t h e t i c is a conscious choice to subvert the norms of pop aesthetics and turn them into something that imports different influences from time and space into a calculated inversion of trends. It has a purpose.

Venus’ aesthetic in Aquarius is ascetic. Saying “no” to current conventions to massage beauty out of the ugly.

Just like someone makes a conscious choice to become an ascetic, everything vaporwave values is a conscious choice, and its power as an aesthetic movement is in its ability to make harmonized statements out of that which is gauche, garish, old, hacky, and extra. It’s a descendant of Dadaism in that sense: put a urinal in on a pedestal and now it’s a fountain.

“Nate, is this an astrology post or an art criticism post?”

Honestly it could be either at this point, sorry.

Anyway, back to Venus.

While Venus in Aquarius gets panned as being “aloof,” the reality is that she can love as powerfully as she loves in any of the other signs, but it’s based on different critera. Venus in Aquarius must have a reason to choose to love someone. That’s the takeaway here.

If your loved one has Venus in Aquarius in their birth chart, that means you must learn how to dig deep underneath the actions, the emotions, and the container of your relationship with them in order to get into the why of your relationship. Into the values that are most important to them. Into the foggy depths of their cloud formations.

You can get a sense of their values by looking at the houses ruled by Venus in their chart (wherever Taurus and Libra fall), and consequently the house where Aquarius falls; for example, if Venus in Aquarius is in the 2nd house, that means the person’s relationship values will be related to matters of career (Libra in 10) and creativity (Taurus in 5), playing out in their relationship to money.

In this instance, it would be good to make sure that you and your loved one have a conversation about the role finances play in your relationship and how you can help them reach heights of professional achievement and enjoyment through purposeful, deliberate, and well-thought-out ways.

It’s a great time to have these conversations. While Venus is transiting Aquarius for the better part of this month, use this opportunity for you and your loved ones to review your shared values, with questions like these:

  • What is important to you in your partnership?
  • What are your matters of ultimate concern?
  • And a big one: how do you as a couple, as a unit, relate to other individuals and communities outside your relational center of gravity?

If you & your boo are in in need of a define-the-relationship conversation (for good or for ill!) now’s the time to do it when love is in your head. Don’t let your relationships just e x i s t right now. Know where it is, where you are, where you’re going.

After all, to love someone is not an emotion at all. You’re thinking of limerence (Google it).

Love is a choice. And Venus in Aquarius knows how to make choices of the heart with her head fully in the game.

Featured image from KnowYourMeme

The Widow and the Judge

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What is it about Venus transits that freaks people out so much?

This week, on the 19th, we have a transit that has generated a modicum of consternation among those I’ve asked, and even beyond Mars’ entrance into Taurus and the Sun’s entrance into Pisces, this one is what’s occupying many people’s attention.

We’ve got Venus encountering Saturn on the Old Man’s own turf. It’s interesting considering that most of the transits that begin this week, except for Mars’ entrance into Taurus, are events that happen once a year.

My hunch is that collective attention fell on Venus because, especially around Valentine’s Day, relationships are one of the most significant pinch points in our common life.

Whether we are aromantic or polyamorous or celibate or just ain’t got time for that, we are still social creatures, and so Saturn’s looming contact with our social starlet is not something that we want to countenance.

We love beauty, fun, and love. Don’t harsh our mellow, Saturn.

But is Venus in Capricorn that mellow to begin with? I want to assure everyone reading this that, first off, Venus’ conjunction to Saturn is not anything before which to cower. You’re going to be fine. We’re all going to be fine. “But it’s Venus!” Yeah? “Conjoining Saturn!!” Yeah, so what? “AAAGH”

Get the image of Venus’ contact to Saturn in your head. Let whatever dread you have about it fill you. Now, think about this parable, from Luke’s gospel, chapter 18:

Jesus said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people.’ (Saturn in Capricorn much?) ‘In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.”’

The reason that the Venus transit to Saturn this time around is not anything to be overly concerned about is because of something called “reception.” When a faster planet applies to the aspect or conjunction of a slower planet from that other planet’s home turf, the slower planet is obligated by celestial ethics to give the faster planet a hearing.

The slower planet may not be predisposed to being helpful, but the faster planet is coming to the slower planet in a style that agrees with the slower planet’s personality. So, hear the story anew. Venus in Capricorn, boss-ass lady that she is, is coming to Saturn demanding justice.

Saturn’s no philanthropist, we all know that. He’s the unjust judge; his M.O. is maintaining his own status quo and not bothering with the petty concerns of the unwashed masses. But Venus demands a hearing. She fights for it. She marches her ass into the courtroom day after day until she can wheedle a judgment out of this crap judge.

Venus at 16° Capricorn has the powers of triplicity and term. She’s among friends. She sets her own agenda for how she’s getting Saturn stuff done. She has zero time for Saturn’s nonsense—even though she knows that Saturn is the one who can get her the solution that she needs.

Venus needs Saturn to help her say no to something here. Think back to the parable: the widow needs justice against her opponent. In the ancient world, widows had no safety nets unless they had kids to take care of them. This is a woman who is not satisfied with her situation and is trying to do something about it.

Think of the healthy Capricorns that you know in your life, especially the Capricorn women. Do you know them as people who just sit there and let life happen to them? Not in the least, right?

Think of Dolly Parton, a Capricorn woman. That’s Venus in Capricorn.

Do you think Dolly Parton is going to let Saturn boss her around? Not at all. She came to prominence amid the patriarchal nonsense of the music industry and did so by playing the game in her favor. She made the resources of the gatekeepers her own. She did it on her own terms.

So as Venus conjoins Capricorn this week, keep an eye out for the way beautiful opportunities help you to game the system. Pay special attention if you’re in a Venus- or Saturn-ruled year (you’ve got to know your rising sign for that—count forward one sign for every year of age to tell you the ruler of your year).

Aries

If you need to ask an old friend to pay you back the money they owe you or approach your crummy boss for a raise at work, this is the week to do it. Get your money.

Taurus

Put yourself in the sights of an older mentor who can connect you with professional opportunities—and ask them to do it!

Gemini

If you need funding for a creative endeavor, figure out who it is that you need to ask and get in their face, but be careful that your approach doesn’t burn any bridges.

Cancer

A friend or family member will probably be asking your loved one for help with a home matter, so be attentive to the needs of loved ones and stand at the ready to help with whatever is asked.

Leo

Your boss is looking for some help from your coworkers but resist the urge to put yourself in the limelight because you might discover that what’s needed is grunt work, nothing that heightens your image.

Virgo

Don’t be afraid to spend a little bit of money on something fun for yourself this week; the return on investment will be worth it. But stay under budget.

Libra

If you need to approach your folks for financial help, feel free to do so this week. They’re not going to like it but plead your case well and you’ll have what you need.

Scorpio

Keep an eye on anyone who has it in for you for they may be working to create tripping hazards. Cross your T’s, dot your I’s, stay in your lane and you’ll be good to go.

Sagittarius

Looks like a friend will be coming to you to ask for a help. Define the terms of what you can do and set clear expectations; don’t just trust that they’ll honor their end of the agreement. Don’t let your good nature get taken advantage of.

Capricorn

Higher-ups will ask you for a favor, even if you’re not interested in what they’ve got to offer in return. Negotiate; you’ve got the upper hand here.

Aquarius

Less practical, more theoretical for you (which shouldn’t be a problem): meeting the needs of family and philosophy can help you maintain a sense of purpose during this long season of feeling apart from yourself.

Pisces

Ride the wave this week to get your day-to-day tasks done with support from old friends while you’re in the middle of a confusing fog. Get it done!

Thank you so much for your support of my work! If this was helpful to you, book a session with me today! I’ve got an audacious goal of ten consultations a week because that’s ten people who are getting insight into becoming who they’re supposed to be. https://bit.ly/2AAF2QL

Good for the Gander

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Sunday’s lunar eclipse marks the final punctuation in the story that has been playing out since this time of year in 2016, when we had the first lunar eclipse in Leo as the nodes began their slow journey through the opposing realms of the ego and the collective.

Like a celestial metronome, the eclipse cycle structures time in a way that allows us to see the unfolding of various musical phrases, calls, responses, and developments playing out in the realms of our life where those eclipses fall.

We have seen how the themes of tension between the fixity of the individual will and the fixity of collective responsibility have played out both for good and for ill, indeed. Each time the Moon’s dark body blocked out the radiant Sun, each time the Moon passed unseen through the Earth’s ruddy shadow, we were given a window into the deep magic where will and responsibility hold one another in tension.

This has played out on the stage of our national life, within our cultural discourse, as well as within the silent and secret chapters of our lives. So, what have we learned?

Those of us who have been able to work constructively within the measures tapped out by the Sun and the Moon in these last two years have seen that the individual and the collective will are connected to one another. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”

For those of us who have found our wills drawn to that which we desire most in life over the last two years, and who, under Jupiter’s beneficent patronage in Sagittarius have discovered again what it means to aim high, I offer this line from the writer Wallace Wattles:

“The very best thing you can do for the whole world is to make the most of yourself.” And one of the best ways to do so is to employ the creative, effusive powers of Leo, where identity and expression reign, so that they may be united to Aquarius’ social ethic.

If we have not yet learned this lesson, we will be given another opportunity to do so when, in nine and a half years, the eclipses return to Aquarius and Leo, but the shoe will be on the other foot this time.

If you’ve not learned this lesson, do it now. Do it today. Do not put if off to tomorrow. We have a fantastic opportunity to do so this week, not only as a result of this final eclipse in Aquarius, but also because of the story being told by the trio of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

The day after the eclipse, January 21st, Mars on a warpath in Aries strikes a stoic and staid Saturn in Capricorn, who refuses to yield to Mars’ assault—for Mars in Aries reminds Saturn of times in which Saturn has had to engineer clever Saturnian solutions out of the most unlikely materials available, as though he had to build a house out of fire.

Saturn is on the defensive and can withstand Mars’ siege as long as he needs, for he lacks for nothing in his frigid earthen fortress.

We will encounter stopping points and dead ends in our campaign towards our desires as a result of Saturn retaliating against Mars’ excitement with a deadening glare, but that’s not the end of the story for this week.

Mars’ blade throws sparks and a scintillating shower illuminates what it is that we desire. We’ll see that what Mars wants is not war, but simply to cut a new path to move forward, to blaze new trails in whatever area of our lives fall under his fiery demesne.

What better power to help him do that than Jupiter?

As Mars continues his journey forward, he carries with him the structuring power of Saturn as a result of this spat, and on the 25th, he brings this power to Jupiter in Sagittarius by a munificent trine, asking the All-father to help him find a new way.

It helps quite a bit that Jupiter’s daughter Venus has seen what’s been going on between Mars and Saturn and is bringing advance notice to her father as she visits him at home, carrying news of her brother Mars’ plight. Jupiter’s primed and ready to help.

Defeated but determined, Mars pleads his case, and Jupiter straightaway grants Mars the ability to accomplish what it is that he has set about to do, for Jupiter sees both Mars’ intensity and sincerity in his approach.

Since Jupiter sees Mars approaching from allied territory (for Jupiter is a stakeholder in every fire sign), Jupiter’s aid to Mars is in his own best interests, too. Goose and gander, once again, and Mars will be given what he needs to make the most of himself.

Wherever it is that we are striving and investing in our energy, signified by the place that Aries holds in our natal charts, we will encounter a barrier at first and then a breakthrough this week as the lesson of the Leo-Aquarius eclipse cycle sets more deeply into our bones.

Learn this lesson: the very best thing we can do for ourselves is to make the most of the whole world, and that the very best thing we can do for the whole world is to make the most of ourselves. In spite of barriers. Without delay. Today.

ARIES RISING

As you strive to manifest the most positive possible outcomes for your health and your personal circumstances, look for your spirit-attuned teachers to show you a new way to rise above the present challenges through fixing your eyes on that which is noble, true, and just in all things.

TAURUS RISING

Mars is on his warpath in places unseen to you, striking down those who would seek to undo you with a smile on their faces, and you will find secret and silent aid coming to you from the energies of people who you may have counted as enemies otherwise. “Love your enemies.”

GEMINI RISING

As you are striving to expand your social circles, be ready for challenge to come from people to whom you owe a debt of responsibility. New and gracious partners to assist you in connecting with communities where your insights can be validated and put to utmost use in motivating collective action.

CANCER RISING

Even though your workload seems like it has been growing beyond your ken as of late and you meet with resistance from your associates, the beneficent aid you’ll receive from far-sighted allies will help you manifest a tremendous payoff in your professional status. Remember to give credit where credit is due.

LEO RISING

As you strive for deeper understanding and a higher perspective, do not let the drudgery of your search have the final word but rather seek after new and creative ways of seeing as peers and superiors enrich your capacity to open the doors of perception.

VIRGO RISING

Striving for a way forward in your obligations to other people finds itself against creative blocks; you can’t keep doing the same thing. A return to ancient and nobler ways of advancing will give you the insight that you need in order to find this new way. Try going back to go forward.

LIBRA RISING

Willingness to engage in new ways of conversing—and perhaps putting some financial skin in the game—will allow you to find a new way forward in partnership with your beloved as they come up against the carefully constructed boundaries and restrictions defining your home life these days.

SCORPIO RISING

The tremendous effort you’ve been putting out to construct the best circumstances for yourself has met with utter resistance in your day-to-day environment (how are those resolutions going)? A new way comes when effort joins itself to viewing your financial powers from a higher perspective.

SAGITTARIUS RISING

Expect the energy you’ve been investing in your creative output as of late to trigger a notable breakthrough for your circumstances despite throttled resources. Knowing how to say “no” to the wrong materials will help you say “yes” to the right ones, even though “no” isn’t in your vocabulary. Think less Michelangelo, more Mondrian.

CAPRICORN RISING

All the recent motion at home isn’t unsettling you in the least—if anything, it’s creating new advantages by which to steel yourself against the enemies wearing friendly faces. Don’t accept more help or advice than you need—not that you’ve ever had a problem saying “no” to officious advice, anyway.

AQUARIUS RISING

Getting the word out to new audiences is continuing to prove a challenge due to resistance from the dark and deadening walls that contain you, but you’ve got friends in high places who stand at the ready to help amplify your messaging and thereby get you out of the box. Since when was cardboard so strong?

PISCES RISING

Against the sensible urging of your friends you’ll probably make a tremendous investment in furthering your view of the world this week, using your cash or your cache of energy. The return on investment looks promising, as does the view from up there.

The Sun in the Crucible

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It’s for no small reason that gold remains one of the most desirable of our mother Earth’s treasures. Whether as an enriching adornment, a measure of economic power, or as a critical component within any number of the gadgets and technologies that facilitate modern life, this noble elemental metal has been the stuff of lust and legend since time immemorial. Indeed, it was forged deep in the heart of an ancestral star, and so its radiance reminds us that we are but star-dust, and to star-dust we will return.

The issue with gold, however, is that it rarely (if ever) comes out of the earth in usable form. While part of its desirability comes from its malleability, gold is so malleable that it often absorbs the influences and detritus of the minerals surrounding it in its earthen cradle. It flakes and flows down streams to be found by desperate panners, who sift through the muck to find the evidence of richer veins upstream. It is, if left untreated, little more than a chunk of dirty metal.

That’s where the exultant work of the refiner’s fire comes in. We often think of fire as something that can only destroy, that can only erase, that can only consume, but we often don’t consider the ways in which fire can be used to rarefy and purify metals and alloys to states where they can be used in ways only dreamed of by the sleeping metals in their earthen womb.

The raw mineral finds its way to the crucible; the refiner’s fire melts the gold and its purest factors run together, settling at the bottom, closest to the heat source. Meanwhile the undesired matter, which limits the radiance and utility of the gold, floats to the top to be removed and burned off by the unyielding heat.

The celestial gold in our charts, the energy which causes the engines of our souls to turn over, is signified by the Sun, the heavenly king. Whichever part of our natal chart the Sun presides over through rulership (that is, wherever Leo is in our charts), we find our life’s purpose oriented to the pursuit of that house’s priorities; likewise, wherever the Sun stands in our chart by house signifies the resources we have to make that desire a reality. When we uncover that rich vein of purpose for the first time we gain insight into the economics of our soul; we learn where we must invest our energies in order to reap the reward of satisfaction and a purposeful life.

But simply knowing the vein of gold is there does not, by itself, make that wisdom accessible to us. Just as gold must be refined to return to the state it was created to be, so must our natal Suns be assayed by fire and heat and pressure to become truly radiant. There are any number of ways in which this might happen—for me, it occurred in a special way at my Saturn return, for the Dark Lady is in a partile square with my natal Sun. But for all of us, as the Sun makes his yearly course through the zodiac, once a year he will encounter the unseen crucible and secret fire signified by Pluto, the bringer of change.

Pluto, one of whose glyphs represents a crucible, is most potent among the planets for his ability to generate the level of unseen heat required to purify the heaviest of elements. If the symbolic fires which Mars kindles are bright red and radiant, Pluto’s fire is even hotter—so hot that it is invisible to the human eye, its radiation more akin to gamma ray bursts than the fires of war.

The power of Pluto is a power that exists on the level of the edge of the cosmos; just as intensely hot and stupendously powerful quasars form the outer limit of the observable universe, so the astrological Pluto’s stupendous intensity forms the outer limit of our Solar System. No one passes him unchanged, even if that change is not visible to the naked eye at first.

So as the Sun conjoins Pluto on this January morning (for those in the United States), expect the subtler matter of your natal Sun to be melted into a purer form and the baser materials to be vaporized. This is the second act in the Sun’s three-stage purification happening over the first part of the month, too; the first was the solar eclipse last weekend, wherein the Sun’s pretenses were shed, and we experienced the shedding of the comfortable lies that we tell ourselves to contain our brightness.

The second is this conjunction to Pluto, which will render the Sun more malleable than ever and prepare it to be shaped into tools, adornments, and currencies beyond our wildest imagination.

The third will be the Sun’s meeting with the Dragon’s Tail, whose abyssal vortex will humble and rectify the Sun and give it the gift of perspective. This three-fold purification precedes the Sun’s journey into Aquarius, where he will work out the gifts of his re-creation through hard labors, accomplishing Saturn’s priorities with the new Solar tools he has been given (more on that next week).

On the other side of this gauntlet, the Sun will have been refined in the invisible fire, its dross burned away, and the newly-forged ingot quenched in the vortex, that he may offer his radiance in all righteousness and free of the comfortable lies that he tells himself to assuage his fears and the noxious cloud of public opinion that his radiance attracts. Fear not for the Sun’s passage through Saturn’s home of Aquarius, for he shall pass through as a prophet.

Leo Rising

The Sun’s journey of purification is impacting your self-concept, your health, and your appearance, employing hard work and discipline to effect their purposes. Accept the crucible’s lessons with all humility and you shall shine all the brighter for it.

Virgo Rising

The Moon, the Refiner, and the Dragon’s Tail have set their sights on the limiting beliefs that you hold for yourself, using your very creations as a means of transfiguration. Welcome the new work which you will unexpectedly render.

Libra Rising

The refining process for you regards the company you keep and your fidelity thereto. Things hidden will be revealed as a result of this process and new foundations will be laid for you to create peace anew among those who hold your trust, and whose trust you hold.

Scorpio Rising

Ready yourself to embrace the clarity of vision for your profession that the crucible will create for you and be willing to endure the sometimes-painful process of disregarding what other people have to say about your growth.

Sagittarius Rising

Though you are blessed with uncanny radiance for the better part of this year and may not feel like you have anything to worry about, remember that this radiance will come to an end—a little preparation goes a long way. You can’t serve God and Mammon, but you can make Mammon serve God. The refiner will show you how.

Capricorn Rising

Be ready to die to the old ways of containing yourself that you may put on the life that having clarity of purpose bring. And you’ll want to make sure that your credit cards aren’t crushing you, either.

Aquarius Rising

The boon of partnership is allowing you to explore unforeseen depths from your castle of isolation, and as the shackles of respectability come off, you will be able to join your voice to those of prophets and sages past in unexpected and supremely powerful ways.

Pisces Rising

Duty to your friends is demonstrating how much the people in your company rely upon you in concrete ways, so don’t neglect these earthly connections even as you strive after transcendence and success for the remainder of this year.

Aries Rising

Though your creations are being put through the ringer right now, there’s little need to despair, as that very work will be able to set a table in the wilderness for all those wild souls who gather around you once the refiner is through with it.

Taurus Rising

The old is passing away, and behold, the new is bursting onto the scene, drawing your attention to parts and pathways unknown and readying to bring a renewed sense of vision to the work to which your soul has set its hand.

Gemini Rising

Though you pride yourself on your golden tongue, remember all that’s been said of gold here. When the words fail to come, it is at that precise moment that the refiner’s heat has struck you. Do not fail to learn the lesson of speechlessness.

Cancer Rising

Those in partnership with you have much to say about the resources you so jealously guard, and while it may feel now that you are losing control, remember that holding gifts with open palms (or open pincers in your case) allows you to accept the lavish abundance that has yet to come to you.