Current Transits for August 2007 Current Transits for August 2007Here's some of the important astrological news this month ...
Saturn Trine Pluto, 8-6
Jupiter Direct Station at 9Sa55, 8-6
Mars enters Gemini, 8-7
New Moon at 19Le51, 8-12
Full Moon / Total Lunar Eclipse at 4Pi45, 8-28
Hindsignt...
Breaking News: The I-35W Bridge Collapse, 8-1
An online ephemeris for the month is available.
In July, it seemed the bottom fell out from under us. We went from a 4 month planetary overdose to instant cold turkey. In August, it appears we are slowly coming back to a more normal level of activity. The storms reach the Koz Alert region from time to time, but it's nothing we can't handle. The month is rather quiet in more conventional astrological terms. One peculiar tendency, especially around the new moon on the 12th, is the large number of planets in the sign of Leo. At the lunation, 5 planets (a third of all the bodies I typically follow) are all in this fiery sign -- that may be too much of a good thing for some people. Notice also that the full moon on the 28th is a total lunar eclipse that leads into a rather jam-packed September. Eclipse seasons (the twice a year periods, about a month long, when eclipses occur) are often times when big changes in our lives are triggered. Parts of our lives that are in need of a long-overdue housecleaning require our attention and efforts. This tendency is also in keeping with Pluto's direct station of Sep 7, a part of the Pluto cycle when change and letting go is no longer an option. These transformative pressures will be building throughout August as the issues become more clear. It's time to lighten your load and let go of old baggage that is just holding you back. It's easiest if you don't put up a big struggle to resist (Pluto is insistent like that). However, I don't get the impression that this is a "difficult month" in the usual sense of the phrase. We'll get through...
For all the activity this month, there are very few specific astrological events on the radar screen. The only "big aspect" is the Saturn-Pluto trine on the 6th. Jupiter reaches its direct station, also on the 6th. Mars moves into Gemini on the 7th. There's the big Leo pileup of planets (which I'll discuss with the new moon chart) and the lunar eclipse on the 28th (see the full moon chart). This paucity comes in handy, because I have a lot of late breaking news about the 35W bridge collapse story and the astrology that surrounds it.
Saturn is trine Pluto for a (relatively) quick single pass aspect on the 6th. These planets have been in orb since last fall already and won't fully separate until Aug 2008, so this "quick pass" may actually be in the background for quite some time. OK, so trines are "good aspects" and make things go smoother, but they have their downsides as well. As for the planets involved, Saturn and Pluto are two of the most difficult energies to deal with and have "a past" that's not pretty. For instance, their oppositions of 2001-2002 were widely considered by astrologers to be the signature aspect of the World Trade Center attack and the ensuing war on terror. I doubt we're going to see anything quite that dramatic this month, but just be aware that contacts between malefic planets (as they are called) shouldn't be underestimated. Saturn rules over the structural parts of our lives, the nuts and bolts parts that need to be taken seriously and handled responsibly. Saturn is all the non-glamorous details that you take care of and then they recede into a background that helps you create the more interesting projects you'd really want to be doing. If you don't take this structural part seriously, however, it seems you keep coming back to it over and over until you finally get it right. Saturn is like that -- you have to finish all your homework before you can move to the next grade. Pluto operates in the underworld that lies below this Saturn reality. He's a force that breaks down old structures that have outlived their usefulness, releasing the energy within the broken vessel to take on a new, more liberated form. He insists you become the person you're "supposed" to be (in some higher self sense of the word), whether you as a conscious ego want to or not. Obviously, any connection between Saturn and Pluto is apt to be "interesting" at best and their effects can be highly transformative as your everyday realities are forced to change and evolve. Luckily, this is a trine. Change can be a smoother and more constructive process, but only if you put in the appropriate efforts. The biggest problem with a trine is a feeling of laziness or inertia, a tendency to simply coast and get by as long as things continue to evolve positively. Of course, things won't always go so smoothly. When matters go south, the lazy person has no resources or foundations to fall back on. This is when you feel the downside of the trine, so do your work upfront. Any change you make now to streamline your daily life will come in very handy in the 2009-2010 timeframe, when Saturn and Pluto form their next square aspect. That aspect will not be as forgiving, I can assure you. Get it right now, while the planets are humoring us...
(Saturn is trine the GC on the 9th, so look for some reverbs in these energies around that time...)
Jupiter stands still at its direct station of 9Sa55 on the 6th, about to resume normal motion. He's been in reverse gear since his retrograde station of 19Sa46 back on Apr 5 . Jupiter has a reputation of being a planet of abundance, a celestial Santa Claus that brings us the goodies in life. At a more substantial level, Jupiter is the power that allows people to come together, share their resources, combine their efforts and create a common, social network that makes all of our lives much more pleasant and productive. The goodies are not the material goods themselves, but the support networks we put together for our mutual benefit. When Jupiter is backing up as he has since April, this normal human tendency to join forces seems to wane. People feel more like they need to hold onto what they've got already and not squander their resources. They go it alone instead of work together. This drying up of our connections affects us on many levels. People are less likely to be friendly and outgoing, so social contacts may go quiet for a time. More significantly, especially for business people, is that their customers seem to close their wallets and postpone unnecessary purchases. The feeling of lack and depravation (whether justified or not) motivates people to hold onto their money. For the business person, there is less money coming in, but the bills and expenses going out are still the same. If you put some rainy day resources aside to help you get through the dry spell, there should be no big issue here. It's only a lack of planning that will get you in trouble. It's the direct station now, so you should know how well your contingency planning was. If you've managed to get through all this time in decent shape, just think how well it will be during better times. People are coming out of their shells again. It's time to say hello and rekindle all those old connections that have been dormant in recent months. Get out there...
Mars moves from Taurus into Gemini on the 7th. He'll be in this sign until Sep 28, when he shifts into Cancer. You wouldn't naturally assume that Mars in Gemini would work out well, but this placement has some useful effects on us. Mars is a very physical and muscular kind of guy -- he wants to do something. Gemini, on the other hand, is mental and social, generally in its head or lost in conversation. This placement stimulates the intellect and motivates you to perform some light mental work. This is more the kind of work that involves correlating large piles of information and patterns, not the blue-sky creative stuff or (even worse!) the drudge work involving annoying details that can't be glossed over. The trouble is that Mars breeds impatience, so your mind is only engaged as long as the project is "sexy" and exciting. When it gets tedious, he loses interest, so make sure any activity you take on requires a doable amount of time and effort. Gemini is also very sociable, so you may want to mingle with people more than usual. There's often a light-hearted, flirtatious mood to these interactions, fueled by clever banter and the desire to have fun. Unlike Taurus, Gemini is a fast moving sign that never stands still. You may find the pace of life picking up, but not in an unpleasant way. Enjoy...
The most striking characteristic of the new moon chart is how polarized it looks. There's a huge pileup of 5 planets over in Leo opposite Chiron and Neptune in Aquarius. Except for Pluto, most of the remaining planets are hardly worth considering.
Over in Leo, we have Mercury, the Sun and Moon, Saturn and Venus. Leo is synonymous with egotistical behavior in the popular mind, but the Leo psyche is more complicated than this stereotype. First of all, this sign is the first step in the young psyche when a person steps out of the background of family and culture and starts exploring their own individuality. Who am I? What makes me special and unique? It's easy to build your foundation, your sense of self, on a flimsy or superficial basis, puffing up your "image" with no substance behind it. This is a losing strategy, but it's amazing how many people pursue this route an entire lifetime and never realize its futility. The higher spiritual step for Leo is through the heart chakra -- your uniqueness is based on the warmth of your emotions and the strength of your friendships. This route is also in tune with Neptune opposite the new moon. Neptune, at its best, is about opening the heart and breaking down the false boundaries between people that egos try to build. Of course, Neptune has a lower side as well, a side that is seduced by glamour and trivia, that is more attracted by what is cool than by what has substance. With the Saturn-Pluto trine still active, these false foundations are under attack anyway. You have to let go of the inessential to find who you are deep down. It's normal to have some troubling questions about yourself and what you stand for these days. (I'd be worried if you don't!) Doubt leads to maturity.
There's an echo in this chart to the spectacular total solar eclipse chart of 1999-8-11 at 18Le21 , as they are impacting the same degrees in the zodiac. Maybe there's some unfinished business going back to that time 8 years ago...
If it weren't the fact that this is a lunar eclipse, I'd be more likely to overlook this chart. The overall planetary pattern is weak, disorganized and lacks cohesion. There are a series of oppositions (Sun-Moon, Mercury-Uranus, Venus-Neptune, Mars-Jupiter) that are intriguing, including a weak Grand Cross, but that's about it. However, this eclipse and the partial solar eclipse coming up on (you guessed it) Sep 11 bookend a number of crucial changes in the sky, including Saturn moving into Virgo and the direct stations of Pluto and Venus. The ground is shifting rapidly beneath our feet.
By the way, this lunar eclipse is visible (weather permitting) through all of the USA and the Pacific basin, if you're willing to get up early enough in the morning. The east coast will experience the moon setting while still in the earth's dark shadow (the umbra), while the west coast will get to experience the entire eclipse process before dawn/moonset. Lunar eclipses like this are quite spectacular and easy to observe, so I'd really recommend you make the effort to watch it. The moon is partially in the earth's umbra from 3:50 to 7:24 AM and totally immersed from 4:52 to 6:23, all times in CDT.
All these oppositions make me think we are facing a cosmic mirror that is showing us our shortcomings and blindspots rather vividly. Not only are there questions about what you think and believe, but even your feelings are up for grabs. As you progress along the spiritual path, from time to time you need to throw open your "psychic closet" as I call it and lighten your baggage. Things that you've accepted as quite normal and acceptable for years and decades suddenly look very strange when glimpsed from a different angle. Relying on your gut instincts to guide you doesn't even work, since they are questionable as well. All this confusion, as frustrating as it can be, is actually very fertile spiritual soil. It is a state of openness and receptivity to possibilities you've never dreamed possible before. The mental boxes we use to categorize and confine reality don't work the way they used to, so throw out the boxes, not the experiences. The compulsion to have feelings and opinions about everything simply clouds your ability to have genuine, uncluttered intutions and feelings that act as your antennae to the world. Get back to basics, empty yourself as a vessel, let go of the clutter. I don't know where we're headed in the next few months, but it's not the same path we've been on in the past. The universe is beckoning us to tread down uncharted paths.
One of my favorite techniques for studying eclipses is the phenomena of Saros cycles (which I describe in the eclipse pages of my web site). In a nutshell, eclipses belong to families and these Saros families stretch for 12-14 centuries typically. The first eclipse in a family expresses the overriding themes that color all the other eclipses in the family. This lunar eclipse belongs to a Saros family that began on Jun 18, 1304, while the coming solar eclipse is part of a relatively new Saros family that started on Jul 18, 1917, during the first World War. I've glanced briefly at these old charts today -- Saros charts always give me this dreamy, otherworldly feeling, as though you are looking at the soul world that lies behind visible reality. There are a lot of zodiac positions that show up in these old charts that mirror the current eclipse charts in an uncanny manner, not to mention my natal chart and charts of friends that are important now. There's something very deep going on lately...
My group of friends had our second group mediation to bring in the Pluto-GC energies during their second conjunction on Jul 16. At least we tried to have a meditation that day. The first contact back on Dec 29 created a deep, unearthly feeling that activated some very high chakra points in us, an initiation that showed us a much higher state of awareness to assimilate within ourselves. The second contact, as Pluto retrograded past the GC, was an entirely different matter. Instead of transcending the chaos of human activity, we were immersed in it. It felt very Uranian to me. Now I don't normally consider Uranus to be a "lower energy", but when your're looking for the GC, it's simply an irritating distraction. I spent 3/4 of my ritual simply trying to break through this static. Many of the others in my group experienced the static so intensely that their lives were disrupted to the point where they never got to their rituals. I think this is the "stuff" we have to work through before the GC becomes our new home. We've got a lot of working through to do...
It got a little weird here in Minneapolis on the evening of Aug 1. I was settling down to an evening of typing, hoping to get the newsletter in the mail soon, when my brother phoned to tell me about the collapse of the I-35W bridge. Life took a sharp left turn that evening.
I went out the next evening by foot (the bridge is only 2 miles from my apartment) to take photos and GPS readings for my astrology charting of the event. It was my birthday on the 2nd and I experienced my solar return while hiking along the Mississippi River banks, taking in the sights. It's amazing to see reality torn up like that.
The media have been reporting a time of 18:05 CDT on the 1st for the collapse, but according to some video footage on the internet, the time is probably a few minutes earlier, at 18:01:38. My GPS calculations put the bridge at 44:58.752 N and 93:14.718W. We've got an extremely precise chart for this event. That earlier time is very significant in terms of why the bridge collapsed when it did. The ascendent for this revised chart is 26Sa58. At that time, Pluto was at 26Sa37 and the GC was at 26Sa57, exactly passing the ascendent! Saturn (at 26Le00) and Mars (26Ta31), the other two malefic planets, were also closely aspecting the ascendent, along with Mercury (24Cn46). Steel (Mars) structures (Saturn) disintegrating (Pluto)? This is one nasty looking chart! The only saving grace was a Sun-Jupiter trine (exact on the morning of the 2nd) that spread a layer of protection over the collapse site. I credit this trine for why the death toll was as small as it was for such a potential catastrophe. It could have been much worse.
I'm also concerned with the possible role of our meditation group in all this. We have a number of people scattered around town in our group, forming something we call the Twin Cities Triangle (no relation to the Bermuda kind, I hope). These lines of energy in town seem to be getting stronger as we work with the Pluto-GC energies and the bridge is just inside the boundaries of our triangle. Perhaps all the chaos we experienced on July 16 found a weak spot in the bridge and decided to express itself that way. We'll never know what's going on for sure, most likely, but this is one heck of a "coincidence" for us to swallow.
George Bush was physically inside the triangle during his visit on Aug 4 (9:17 to 11:35 CDT, roughly), interacting with all the same weird energies we were picking up. The energy felt very unstable while he was present. We're still freaked out that the President has invaded our meditations.
Needless to say, the past week has been surreal to the max. Quite disturbing...
I'll be posting more detailed info on the bridge collapse, including a chart for the event, on a separate web page.