Spin The Wheel

9.21.10


The wheel of seasons spins again.

Tomorrow's (Wed Sep 22) equinox tips us northerners toward shorter days and longer nights, while the reverse effect occurs down south. The Sun enters Libra. Fall (or spring) begins. Turn, turn, turn…

As I mentioned six months back at the last equinox, the unique astrology of this instant in history intensifies the significance of these seasonal calendar-turns. Presently, at each solstice and equinox, the Sun forms hard aspects to each of the cardinally-climaxing outer planets—Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto. These aspects remind us of how much more is at stake, as we adjust our rhythms and attack those tasks and issues we associate with certain times-of-year, than merely readying ourselves for the next few months.

We're at a peak moment in co-creating our collective destiny. The ripples of each decision, great and small, are carried farther and deeper than we may realize if we don't remain conscious. And lately, doesn't it seem each season we live feels more like an entire year, chock-full of developments and awarenesses that transform us in rapid-motion? While this season ahead doesn't return anything 'back to normal' (dare I say this is the new 'normal'?), it is designed for making necessary (if painful) integrations of all this past mid-'10 whirlwind has wrought.

The season we leave behind is one we astrologers had greatly anticipated: the peak of the cardinal T-square between (1) Saturn in Libra opposing (2) Jupiter and Uranus in Aries, all three squaring (3) Pluto in Capricorn. Though Armageddon appears not to have stricken us down, nor did the aliens finally land (as far as we know), I believe our past three months did in fact live up to its hype… at least in terms of presenting us with choices, contrasts, insights and altered-realities that'll later prove to have been pivotal in setting us down a certain path.

Think back over what's happened since June. What truth, about yourself or somebody else, can you no longer deny? What long-brewing circumstance hit its boiling point? Have you pondered the consequences of what'll occur if you continued doing what you've always done? or if you indeed made that massive course-correction? What's been barely born, in glimmers or precognitive outline, will develop into something profound. I've seen this phenomenon at past astrological pivot-points.

And now, to this season…

(1) At the official kickoff to fall (or spring), the Moon in Pisces closely conjoins the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction… then moves into its Fullness a mere five hours or so later (early a.m. on Thu Sep 23) in the first degree of Aries. This equinox full moon, therefore, is an extremely potent occasion for committing to ending unhealthful patterns that were revealed, in all their deleterious splendor-and-glory, over these past months. Pledges to clean the slate made now will be extra-strong, boosted by our holding unflinchingly to those commitments until the Moon turns new a couple weeks from now.

There's an inherent luck to the Moon-Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in Pisces that initiates this season ahead—only accessible, alas, if we can attune our hearts to the sense of gamble that usually accompanies radical belief in our 'irrational' (i.e., intuitive) instincts about the 'right thing to do'. Lady Luck cannot find us if we compulsively reiterate our same steps ad infinitum, too afraid to lurch outside convention or safety. We've got to invite serendipity to the table, or she won't show. That's a main reason to end habits: They yield too-predictable results. Want a chance at the royal flush? You'll probably have to throw back some cards, maybe even that reliable two-pair.

(2) On the other hand, we do need some habits—those intentionally formed and fostered so that we may attain what we set out to do, since many of our most valuable goals cannot be achieved overnight. Ending patterns and reinforcing habits? This contradiction merely mirrors the opposition between the Moon/Jupiter/Uranus and the Sun/Saturn. Instinctive risk-taking to free us from our compulsions, balanced against consciously maintaining certain purposefully moderating practices. Which is which? Our discernment is only possible through the fullest presence of being.

As the Sun conjoins Saturn in Libra, we take responsibility for mindfully weighing who we've always been (the qualities that are innately 'us' and the limiting compromises long made to preserve relational status-quos) against what we've recently learned (about who we want and don't want to be, and what we must do to become that person). If we leapt out into left field, we must gently return to those parts of ourselves we don't want to lose. If we've fought hard against changing circumstances, we ought to allow ourselves to soften in this fight, facing what is inevitable. In all cases, we must compensate for the last few months' developments with subtler countervailing movements, bringing our fledgling new bits of self fully into the fold. These few weeks ahead are some of our recent best for working with Saturn, exalted in Libra, fairly considering all poles of extremes before constructing ideal middle-ground resolutions.

(3) Venus's retrograde fast approaches, beginning just over two weeks from now and taking us through mid-November. As I already mentioned in my last article, that puts Venus in Scorpio for much of the duration of '10 and into early '11. Thus, Venus has a rather choice role to play in the closing months of the year—powerfully attracting and/or repelling certain individuals, forefronting the importance of real relationships over 'convenient arrangements', necessitating potentially awkward revaluations of our allegiances. This is the time to reprioritize the meaningfulness of those most important interpersonal bonds… and to quit wasting our precious energies on those with whom we can't reveal our true colors.

For another several weeks, Mars is in Scorpio along with Venus (until Oct 28), a zodiac zone where he is very effective. With this added Mars influence, we won't be satisfied with merely waiting and watching the signs come and go, hoping to be struck over the head with epiphanies about which individuals will provide the most value-added benefit to our lives. We'll also be moved to proactively test the waters, using our wiliest investigative techniques, baiting our potential prey to see if they'll bite. For the next month, we might as well try to get what we want from that certain someone—using whatever means necessary ('with harm to none' the only unbreakable rule). Chances are, by year's end, we'll have gotten a pretty clear answer, one way or another. Under this dual Scorpio vibe, it's better to know, even if it's not the best news.