Well, OK! Is the game over yet? Yes, the Super Bowl is over, and after a looooong Moon void in dreamy Pisces. Was there a surprise upset in that game? Did the underdog win? You tell me. Meanwhile, as of 11:55PM ET Sunday, Moon is now fully engaged and charging through impulsive, fiery, pioneering Aries. What are you waiting for? Get to work! Planetary patterns suggest a high-octane day.
Be aware of the potential for a flash of insight or sudden jolt around 4:17PM ET, when rebel Uranus meets up with the Aries Moon. A power play or other catharsis may be yours around 9:15PM ET, when Moon is squared by ruthless Pluto. In between, expansive Jupiter adds its two cents with an infusion of optimism, generosity and/or bombast. An indulgent/self-indulgent connection between the me-me-me Aries Moon and Venus in status-conscious Capricorn wraps up the night.
The biggest planetary shift this week is Mercury turning retrograde on February 6th for a three week-long opportunity to review the progress you’ve made since the last Mercury retrograde, which was in November. No whingeing, if you please. These REview periods are necessary. They offer opportunities to REconnect, REsearch and RElax. Make space for those activities and you can actually have fun — really! Just do me a favor and BACK UP YOUR COMPUTERS NOW. Electronic gizmos have a strange way of going on the fritz during Mercury retrogrades. Sometimes there are total meltdowns; other times the fritz will happen…and then be mysteriously resolved once Mercury, which refers to mind and communication, moves direct. More on the particulars of this Mercury retrograde later in the week what it means for you, etc.
Moon voids this week — schedule critical meetings and launch dates around them and avoid the malls: Tuesday 6:14PM ET until 4:46AM ET Wednesday; Thursday 11:49PM ET until Friday 1:44PM ET.
Lots of news to report. First, the continuing changes in our social paradigms were out in force in a few of those nifty Superbowl ads. Well, last week’s New Moon in Aquarius invited us to consider 1) tuning in to our sole/soul purpose; and 2) like it or not, we all wrestle with the same issues. We all put our pants on one leg at at time. We’re all in this together…and there was the adorable Cheerios family back in a new Superbowl ad to prove it, not to mention everyone in this historic ad for Coca-Cola. The latter ad features “America the Beautiful,” a song with lyrics written by a professor of English at Wellesley College — and here’s the story behind it.
Plenty of “news from underground” reflecting last Friday’s opposition between Pluto (lord of the underworld) and Jupiter: a deadly volcanic eruption in Sumatra and more lava spewing forth on Mt. Etna. Regarding news involving energy and resources, the proposed Keystone pipeline is one step closer to approval, as yet another Canadian train carrying “thick crude and other hazardous chemicals” derailed in Mississippi. Meanwhile, some states are actually facing budget surpluses, and battles are expected over how to spend all that money…as California and other Western states are facing a serious, serious lack of water (as projected in earlier posts, given Neptune in Pisces).
In other news, the never-ending Uranus-Pluto square, suggesting massive disruptions of the status quo, was reflected in this front-page story about “the largest migration of people in human history,” as villages in China are demolished and their residents move into cities. This morning, yet another article about America’s vaporizing middle class hit the NYT home page: Barney’s is in; Loehmann’s is out.
Seems like there’s always a headline reflecting the nitty-gritty, down and dirty potential of Saturn’s current transit through Scorpio: sex (abortion, contraception, rape), death and money (debt). Really, am I the only one noticing how often these issues are in our face in the past year? Today we learn that abortions in the U.S. are at their lowest rate in three decades. Capital punishment has been generating controversy, as certain drugs used to execute Death Row inmates in the U.S. are no longer available. And over the weekend, the NYT published a letter from Dylan (a.k.a. Malone) Farrow about the sexual abuse she states was inflicted upon her by her adoptive father, Woody Allen. The Daily Beast also had a take on this story (from the documentary filmmaker who made a film about Allen) and so did The Onion (from Mr. Allen himself — bearing in mind that The Onion is a satirical publication).
Follow-up story: Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), who gave one of the Republican rebuttals to last week’s State of the Union speech, stated in a CNN interview that she absolutely supported laws that gave women equal pay for equal work. Further investigation revealed, however, that while she may support said laws in principle, she has not actually voted for any of them. Given her horoscope — especially the challenging connection between Mercury (mindset) and nebulous Neptune, this idealistic spin on hard, cold facts is not surprising. Prior post on her horoscope is here.
Last, but not least, acclaimed actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman died yesterday, as most of the Free World now knows. I could not help but think of two planetary patterns that happened the week of Whitney Houston’s sudden death, especially since I gave a talk about it a couple of weeks ago. Houston passed away just as Venus (art, money, women, social expression) made challenging connections to Uranus and Pluto..and also just as Mercury (mindset) was about to meet up with nebulous Neptune (drugs, illusion, film, music, spirit, escape). Same patterns are happening now.
We do not have a confirmed birth time for Mr. Hoffman; the Sun changed signs from Cancer to Leo on his birthday — July 23 1967. It would take considerable time to test potential birthtimes, and our interest in looking at the horoscope is not to find out what sign he is, but to confirm certain transiting and natal patterns we could expect to see, given recent events. Drug addiction? We’re probably going to see a strong Neptune. Sudden disruption of the status quo? We’re probably going to see the horoscope impacted by the never-ending Uranus-Pluto square. For starters.
A quick glance at the noon chart, and we’re immediately drawn to an exact square between heavy Saturn at 12 degrees of Aries and mental Mercury at 12 degrees of Cancer. Well, there you go — that somber, disciplined pattern has in fact been under fire from the Uranus-Pluto square, augmented by additional pressure from Jupiter and Mars. Right? Everybody with me on this one? Anyone born 9 to 13 days into the signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn…or with a planet or an angle at 9 to 13 degrees of these signs is most likely experiencing pressure to change…that can, if managed effectively, lead to empowerment and emancipation. Really. Book a consultation with your astrologer and plan a strategy! What are you waiting for?
In Hoffman’s case, the pressure on Mercury would suggest high tension to the nervous system/mindset/communication; the pressure on Saturn (from Pluto especially) suggests hard, hard effort under threat of loss…likely feeling overwhelmed in recent months…and as it turns out, he did check into a rehab clinic last year after reliance on prescription drugs segued back into heroin, an old demon.
Natally, a Mercury-Saturn square suggests the potential for great mental discipline/focus…but also depression. Interesting to see this line from his obituary in the New York Times: “…perhaps the most ambitious and widely admired American actor of his generation…who embraced some of the theater’s most burdensome roles on Broadway…” The word “burdensome” is an apt word for hard Mercury-Saturn configuration. But oh what awesome mental powers, too.
Contrast the rigid Mercury -Saturn square under fire with a potentially bewildering square between Hoffman’s natal Neptune at 21 Scorpio and his Moon in Aquarius. Yes…a strong Neptune in the horoscope, as we might suspect. The Neptune-Moon square suggests a need for idealism; drugs, film, illusion, sacrifice, escape, spiritualism would be potential experiences and/or expressions, and it would be a helpful for an actor/chameleon to have this resource in a toolkit. Not surprisingly, this Moon-Neptune square has been under pressure from a heavy Saturn transit, suggesting issues with structure, ambition and reality. Side note: Dennis Rodman has Neptune on his Midheaven, and it was just hit by transiting Saturn. Guess what? He has gone into rehab — again.
Also of note in Hoffman’s horoscope: a midpoint picture involving Saturn/Pluto, the Aries Point and Chiron, the wounded healer. In consultation with a client with this aspect pattern, we’d expect to find a ready discussion of a prominent “skeleton in the closet,” along with prominent suffering of a pain that defies integration. Mr. Hoffman made no secret of his struggles with addiction. At age 46, Hoffman was at a key turning point in life. Truly a sorrow that he did not survive the heavy pressure and tension suggested by the horoscope. This, too, would have passed. RIP
Mercury retrogrades are excellent times to REview your life with an astrologer. Here’s the 411 on consultations…