How to Interpret Aspects in Astrology

February 26, 2019August 4, 20213 Comments

One of the places I got completely stuck when I was first learning astrology was the issue of aspects. Probably because when I first drew my chart it looked something like this:

To which I said,

via GIPHY

That’s quite the knot to untangle, even for a visual-spatial learner like yours truly. I had an inkling of what to do with a planet in a given sign and was even starting to get into issues related to houses—but when it came to getting my head around the aspects in my birth chart, I was up the creek. I wasn’t going to give up that easily though.

The astrology bug bites hard.

In this post, I’m not only going to explain how to interpret aspects, but I’m also going to give you a starting place into understanding the “why” of astrological aspects so you can begin to get your head around the “how!”

What is an Aspect in astrology, anyway

To put it as simply as possible, aspects are how we describe the relationship between planets. Understanding aspects in your chart gives you a window into the dynamic stories that are playing out in your life.

An aspect in astrology occurs when a planet is at a certain number of degrees away from another planet or point in the chart. For example, when two planets are around 90° from one another, we say that they’re in a “square” aspect (a square has four 90° angles).

What that means is this: those two planets are in a relationship with the character of a “square.” Think of the language we use in English that describes squares: “squaring up” before a fight. “Squaring off.” “Square peg in a round hole.” That should tell us that there’s something adversarial about a square: something tense, a real “can I speak to the manager” situation.

If you’re like me, you want to know where this concept comes from; keep reading. If you’re not like me and you just want to know what aspects signify what kinds of relationships… well, scroll on down 😉

To give aspects in astrology their due, we must take a detour into classical optical theory, because the word “aspect” literally means “look at” (Latin ad, “at, to” + spectō, “I look”). I just heard half of you slam your head on the desk. “I just wanna know when I’ll meet my soulmate!” I see you, I hear you, but stay with me!

It’s important to remember that the ancients conceived of the planets as active agents, not as passive on a cosmic timepiece. We start off with the idea that, in the astrological ball of wax, planets interact with each other by casting glances at one another. Kind of like this:

via GIPHY

If we’re looking at something, what we are doing is bearing “witness” to that which we are observing, and many of the ways traditional texts talk about aspects include descriptions of planets “witnessing” each other. The astrologer Chris Brennan discusses this at length in his game-changing book, Hellenistic Astrology: The Study of Fate and Fortune, beginning on page 292 (that’s an affiliate link; I get a kickback if you purchase a copy). If you’re serious about astrology at all, that’s a book to have on your shelf.

These glances in the ancient world were conceived of as an exchange of energy. The short version is that people imagined that the human eye was emitting ethereal light called “lumen,” which was invisible but illuminated anything it fell on. Anything that this lumen hit was “illuminated,” and returned visible light, called “lux,” to the beholder.

We see this reflected in literature of the day, including the New Testament (Matthew 6.22-23, NRSV):

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

Lux. Lumen. Lewks. They make aspects work. Got it?

In modern astrology, we’ve lost the connection to optical theory and now it’s more to do with vibrations, from the ways I’ve heard it explained. It’s as though the planets “resonate” with each other at certain angles, creating consonant or dissonant harmonies. This vibes well with the way many new age folks talk about vibrational frequencies. But even that has some ancient roots!

Aspects and Musical Harmony

There are five main aspects described by Ptolemy and agreed upon in general by the astrologers of the ancient world up through the renaissance and early modern era.

These five aspects are as follows: the conjunction (0º), the opposition (180º), the trine (120º), the square (90º), and the sextile (60º).

Ptolemy explains that these divisions of a circle are important precisely because they represent the primary divisions of the octave in music (cf. Tetrabiblos I.13). Each division correlates to a harmonic interval: correlate to the unison (conjunction), the octave (opposition), the fifth (trine), and the major third (sextile).

You’ll notice that I skipped over the square.

If you play the note exactly halfway between the top and bottom notes of an octave, the interval that results is actually the most dissonant interval in music, the tritone (also known as a diminished fifth or augmented fourth). This musical interval corresponds to the astrological square: halfway between the conjunction and the opposition.

This is whence the language of “harmonious trine” and “tense square” emerges historically, but I don’t think this is commonly known (although I can’t imagine astrologer-musicians throughout history Rudhyar or Ficino would have overlooked this, but I haven’t read enough of them to have the sources on hand).

For those keeping score at home, the modern equally tempered octave has twelve notes in it—but, the zodiac preceded the chromatic scale. Greek music used tetrachords: 4-note scales!

Okay, so what? How do I actually interpret aspects in my chart?

To interpret an aspect in your birth chart, you’ve got to take the aspect apart first by asking yourself several questions:

Which planets are involved?
What aspect is involved
Which planet is faster?
What houses do the planets rule?
What houses are the planets in?

It gets complicated quickly, but if you get used to doing this over and over, it becomes second-nature! It’s like learning your scales and arpeggios, to continue the musical metaphor. Let’s break this down!

Suppose you’ve got Mars sextile Jupiter in your birth chart, and say that you’ve got Aries rising, and that you were born at night. If you were to look at the sky at the moment of your birth (and it was nighttime) you’d see Mars rising bright over the eastern horizon. Drawn on a chart, it looks like this:

As a rule, planets in astrology can see things in the sign where they’re at. Planets also emit seven “rays” of lumen to the degrees that they can see by the aspects we talked about above. So, Mars is hitting a certain collection of signs with his lewks, and so we say he can behold those signs. From Aquarius, Mars can behold Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius. Really, anything in Aquarius can see anything in those other seven signs—there can be an aspect there.

Now, Mars cannot behold anything in Pisces, Cancer, Virgo, or Capricorn from where he sits in Aquarius. So, we say that anything in those signs is “averse” or “in aversion” to Mars, and likewise we can say that Aquarius is “averse” or “in aversion” to those signs. We can spend a lot of time on that, but here’s a visual reminder:

Say that a planet is in any of the signs that Mars can behold from where he sits in Aquarius, so, let’s say it’s Jupiter in Sagittarius. That means Mars and Jupiter are in aspect by sign. So, right now, Mars and Jupiter can see each other because they are in signs that can behold one another. We call this a “sign-based aspect.”

If two planets are in sign-based aspects, they can interact with one another. The nature of their interaction, whether friendly or hostile, is determined by the nature of aspect. Here’s the juice:

Conjunction: two planets are working together according to their natures (e.g., Venus helps, Mars hurts, etc.)
Sextile: gently supportive and easy, but not very dynamic
Square: tense and combative, but sometimes passive aggressive
Trine: flowing, makes things happen, but not necessarily always “good” in a strict sense
Opposition: well, it’s in the name. Overt fighting, explosive, a blow-out!

Sign-based aspects describe the overall tenor of planets’ relationships with each other. But planets don’t interact directly with one another until they come to a degree-based aspect within a sign. That would mean that when Mars advances to a later degree of Aquarius, to meet the square that Jupiter is casting there, which activates whatever this relationship signifies.

Let’s put the story together!

Mars moves faster than Jupiter (usually, unless Mars is retrograde), so Mars will be the one who is approaching Jupiter here. Because it’s a sextile aspect, Mars and Jupiter are in a supportive relationship with one another. Think of it like this: Mars is approaching Jupiter as a friendly acquaintance and asking him for help with something. Since Jupiter is, by nature, a friendly guy, and since he’s in his own sign of Sagittarius and has access to his own resources, Jupiter’s happy to share out of his abundance with Mars.

Good so far?

The last step is to figure out what parts of life the aspect is describing, and you figure this out by looking at which houses the planets involved rule. So in this example, with Aries rising, Mars rules the first house of your basic personality, body, health, vitality, appearance, and overall circumstances, as well as the eighth house of the unavoidables: fear, death, and taxes. Jupiter, meanwhile, rules the ninth house of education, spirituality, and travel, as well as the twelfth house of limitations, sorrow, and the unconscious. Mars is placed in the eleventh house of friends and groups, and Jupiter is placed in the ninth house, which I already described.

Let’s plug everything into this formula:

[Faster planet] representing [material of houses ruled by faster planet] approaches [slower planet] who rules [material of houses ruled by slower planet] in a [character of aspect] way and this creates [positive/negative based on the nature of the aspects and the planets involved] impacts in the area of [house where the faster planet is].

That gives us:

Mars, representing the native’s body, health, appearance, basic personality, approaches Jupiter, who rules philosophy, religion, travel, and education, in a gently supportive way and this creates positive impacts involving the native’s friends and associations.

Then you see where that takes you. In this example, we can see how the native’s personal circumstances can be improved by making efforts to connect with people who share their beliefs, philosophies, and values. Doing so serves them quite well and has the ability to improve their social standing. That’s just a very basic interpretation, but we can dive deeper into how this aspect plays out within the life of the native by looking at their unique context. That’s what we’d do within an astrological consultation.

I’m still lost!

It takes quite a bit of time to learn how to interpret aspects in this way, and I didn’t even get into the difference between applying and separating aspects! But if you take the time to get this rhythm into your bones, you’ll be able to interpret aspects in your birth chart with more ease.

Remember that astrology is a long apprenticeship, too! It’s always helpful to get another set of eyes on your chart, and I’d love to be able to help you out with that.

Get your aspects untangled—book now!

If you want to practice interpreting aspects on your own, great! I’ve made an aspects worksheet PDF for you that has all the information on aspects and houses you need to get used to the rhythm of interpreting aspects (plus some extra stuff on applying and separating aspects). To get your copy, all I need you to do is to sign up for my email list here.

Was this helpful to you? What questions do you still have? Let me know in the comments!

How to Maximize Missing Elements in your Birth Chart

February 19, 2019February 20, 20193 Comments

It’s finally happened—you’ve gotten your birth chart calculated on astro.com, you’ve learned which signs are what element, you’ve gone through and read where each of your planets are, and you’re finally getting a handle on this whole astrology thing.

Then it hits you.

You don’t have any planets in water signs.

You start frantically Googling: “missing element in birth chart!” “No planets in water!” “Am I emotionally handicapped!?” You start to spiral. You start to second guess your career in helping professions. You bring it up to your therapist!

Step one: hit the brakes.

This is exactly what happened to me when I first got into astrology. Besides Pluto and my North Node, I have zero visible planets in water signs in my birth chart.

It happens to the best of us, you know. Because of the way the clockwork of our solar system works, many people are missing an element in their birth chart.

Many modern approaches to astrology look at elemental deficiencies, as they’re called, as areas where we have more work to do in our lives. That’s a valid interpretation, but I want to offer another way to look at it.

This is something I learned from the inimitable Dr. Jenn Zahrt in a late night conversation at this past fall’s SOTA Astrology conference in Buffalo.

Amid all the campy dance parties and late night soul conversations, I learned a little bit of astrology, and this is one of the things I have seen flip a switch in my clients whenever I bring it up to them.

You can see their eyes light up when they get this insight!

What Dr. JZ explained to me was something she got from another astrologer a few years earlier at another conference (and I bring that up because lineage and citing your sources is important in doing good astrology).

This is the idea of elemental mastery.

It’s an absurdly simple idea in essence: if you’re missing an element in your birth chart, the stuff signified by that element is not something that you need to work on in this lifetime.

Easy, right? Almost a little too easy.

Missing water in your birth chart? Great. Water stuff is easy for you in this lifetime.

But I’ve played around with this idea both with my own chart and with the charts of my loved ones and clients, and it bears out in practice.

Are you an elemental master? Let’s find out?

See, every zodiac sign has an element, right? Elements in the birth chart are like four different teams, or Hogwarts houses. A planet has to deal with the stuff related to the team that a given zodiac sign is in.

Just to remind you:

The fire team includes Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius. This team deals with the self in matters of ego security and identity: obtaining it (Aries), expressing it (Leo), adapting and expanding it (Sagittarius).

The earth team includes Capricorn, Taurus, and Virgo. This team deals with the physical world through matters of material security: obtaining and storing it (Capricorn), maintaining it (Taurus), and applying it to concrete situations to improve circumstances (Virgo).

The air team includes Libra, Aquarius, and Gemini. This team deals with intellectual security, social connections, and ideas: creating them through social structures (Libra), maintaining them through social responsibility (Aquarius), and adapting them through gathering incoming information (Gemini).

Lastly, the water team includes Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. This team deals with emotional security and bonding with others, and again, the pattern is obtaining emotional security and nurture (Cancer), sustaining and defending those bonds (Scorpio), and expanding and releasing our bonds with others as we grow (Pisces).

Step two: what element is your birth chart missing?

If you’ve already figured this out, you’re a step ahead.

But if not, here’s a great exercise in getting familiar with your birth chart. Maybe it’s not something you’ve given any thought to! By the way, this approach works best when you’re working only with visible planets, and maybe the North Node.

Go get your chart wheel from astro.com and look at each of the visible planets in your birth chart: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon. Note which signs each planet is in. See if there are any missing elements. Got it figured out? Perfect!

Step three: what does that missing element mean?

Now that we know what that missing element in your birth chart is, we know what to do with this information. It’s simple: whichever team, or element, is missing, is an area of life that you don’t need to spend time working on during this lifetime, because it comes easily to you. Remember, all of these are just starting places—different factors can make these statements more or less true for you!

If you’re missing fire in your birth chart, you’ve got a strong sense of who you are and don’t need to spend a gap year in the Maldives finding yourself.

If you’re missing earth in your birth chart, you’ve got financial and material security down pat, and don’t need to overthink how you’ll get money or take care of your bills. You just do it.

If you’re missing air in your birth chart, your mental and social powers are something that don’t require thought; you know what you know, what you don’t know, and where to get the connections and data you need.

If you’re missing water in your birth chart, your emotional powers are dialed up, and you are skilled at riding the waves of human emotions. Showing up for people with empathy and vulnerability comes easily to you.

Here’s an example: the chart of the famous opera singer, Kathleen Battle.

As we look around the zodiac wheel in her birth chart, we see that there are exactly zero visible planets in Earth signs here.

We can spend a lot of time talking about how the huge amount of fire planets in her chart made her live up to her last name—she was a legendary diva in every sense of the word. But Miss Battle does not want for anything, at least as far as money or financial security was concerned.

Step four: now what?

Relax! Just because you’re missing an element in your chart doesn’t mean your life is going to fall apart at that particular seam.

It does mean that your temperament is skewed away from whatever element is missing. But temperament is a more complicated beast; it impacts your personality and your physical health, too.

What you can focus on now is where most of your planets are stacked. If there is more of an element than others in your chart, that’s where your attention should be! It’s what will require more work, since more of your planets have to express through the parts of life governed by that team.

Looking back at Miss Battle’s birth chart, her chart is stacked heavily towards fire: five visible planets in fire signs! So she will need to spend time working on knowing who she is and balancing how she goes about expressing it in healthy ways.

The good news is that you’re not alone in this. As an astrologer, I can help you identify where the elements in your birth chart lie and help you develop strategies to deal with them, as well as the other important factors in astrology, in a birth chart consultation. I’d absolutely love to work with you on this, and I’m excited to jailbreak your stars with you!

Book a Consultation Now!

The Widow and the Judge

February 15, 2019February 17, 2019Leave a comment

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

Steel in your Spine

February 8, 2019February 7, 2019Leave a comment

If any of you are true crime nerds, you probably know about the show “I Survived,” which features first-person accounts of the most harrowing experiences one could ever imagine.

Survivors regale us with their unbelievable stories of having fended off a serial killer with their bare hands, or survived a plane crash, or escaped a sinking car while saving everyone in it.

And they often do so with composure and grit right on the surface for all to see. They survived.

The will to survive fills us with a rare strength that sometimes comes out in the most muddied of circumstances: someone losing oxygen or bleeding out, unable to think rationally but operating on pure animal instinct for survival.

It’s that raw power that enables mothers to lift cars off trapped toddlers.

When we survive the throes of chaos, when we come out on the other side of the valley of Death’s shadow, we wind up with steel in our spine that no other experience can give us.

This week’s story presents us with an opportunity to engage with the counter, original, spare, and strange power that emerges out of desperation.

Mars finds himself this week in the sign of his dignity but at the Moon’s southern bending. The southern bending, halfway between the south and north nodes, is the point at which the Moon is at her furthest southerly latitude, 90° from either node.

Planets near the bendings carry out the Moon’s story in their own experience, as they do when they are conjoined the nodes themselves; the Moon’s story at the southernmost point of her orbit is the story of rock bottom, the worst it can get.

Yet when you’ve hit rock bottom, the only direction you can go is upward.

As Mars prepares to square the nodes and bear out this story in his body, Mercury enters the sign of her detriment and her fall, Pisces, where all rational thinking is clouded over in luminous vapor.

Mercury in Pisces has no access to the light of reason, the mountains of data he’s gathered in Gemini or analyzed in Virgo. He must learn to act on faith and instinct, something completely contrary to his toolkit.

He can do so just as powerfully as he can in either of his home bases, but the problem is that he doesn’t believe he can. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t work on paper.

Remember the stories of survival: we are at a point where reason fails, and instinct takes over—and those stories don’t make sense a lot of times, either.

This week’s story culminates with Mars’ conjunction to Uranus en route to his Taurus ingress, where an adaptive crisis asks Mars to draw on the strange and wild strength that he carries in his arsenal while in Aries.

Mars will be given an opportunity to recall the steel in his spine because of the way that he has borne witness to the Moon’s story of survival amid impossible circumstances, walking by faith and not by sight.

Uranus is the trigger of triggers, and Mars’ response will call out the best in you as you engage with the impossible odds that the chaos of life’s ebb and flow throws at you. And remember, the best steel is as supple as it is strong.

Be ready to adapt at a moment’s notice and without any time to think it over; instead, open your heart and allow yourself to feel your way forward. You’ve got Jupiter in Sagittarius to help you do this all year, regardless of Mercury’s long slog through Pisces.

Remember: the following horoscopes will probably land more closely if you read them from your rising sign.

aries

The adaptive crisis bears out in your body, requiring you to feel your way into new circumstances as the echoes of challenges past cause the fire of survival to rise in your bones.

taurus

Uranus’ bolt passes unseen, but that does not mean it hasn’t struck its mark. Listen to the soft and subtle voice of silence bringing memories of past sorrows and rejoice that you have survived them.

gemini

Who are you among those with whom you keep company? Uranus’ challenge asks you to take the helm in unprecedented ways, setting the steel in your spine at work to create better fortunes for all those around you.

cancer

The challenge from your professional endeavors asks you to give voice to something that has remained close to your heart, but the time is now—sooner than anyone expected—to release that gift into the wild and allow it to take flight.

Leo

Resist the urge to escape into parts unknown when circumstance raises the specters of old legacies and family stories, who come knocking, unbidden and unwelcome; they no longer have a hold on you anymore.

virgo

Of all the signs this may hit you the hardest, for Mars for you holds sway over all that you fear. But you have conquered fear before and you will do so again as you bear witness to the rich vein of story that your life has given you as a gift-in-kind.

libra

Those closest to your heart will fear for lack, perhaps to the point of despair. Use your vision of beauty to speak of the fertile abundance that you have at your beck and call as you invoke peace beyond understanding.

Scorpio

You, like your Aries siblings, will experience the upset taking place in your body as matters of health hit home, but you’ll find that your constitution has everything it needs to ward off disease and establish itself in strength.

Sagittarius

Uranus wrangles and jangles your children, whether literal or figurative. Remember that they have everything they need to make it and ride the updraft of faith to select in your heart the best outcomes for them.

Capricorn

Social crises threaten to quench the fires of your hearth, but the flames prove all the stronger as your diligent preparation enables you to switch your systems over to autopilot. You’ve been getting ready for this for a while.

Aquarius

Raw and rugged rhetoric on your part has placed you in the position of reevaluating the role of your vocation within your professional communities, but you must remain loyal to your message even when it runs bitter, for you know it to be true.

Pisces

A sudden expenditure calls to mind former, leaner days, but you have earned the requisite monies before through trusting in the abundance that grounds all things and so shall you do again.

Good for the Gander

January 18, 2019January 18, 2019Leave a comment

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.