This blog is dedicated to my beloved friend Paul “Chippy” Johnson. Last week I wrote Mercury is aspecting three slow moving planets that are all considered to be malefic in nature so no matter how I might try to dress this up it adds up to bad news – and Paul’s passing was the worst news imaginable. Paul was Mr Mercury, the text book Gemini, an open mind for all things, a wonderful friend and an avid reader of this blog, supporting me in my work with enthusiasm at all times. Paul, even for a writer, it is impossible to put into words how deeply you will be missed.
The Astrology Blog – w/b 28 July 2014
All times stated are in BST.
As above so below – every single planet from the Sun through to Pluto is involved in this week’s picture, so expect to be dealing with every aspect of your life to one extent or another. We start the week with the Venus – Pluto opposition now separating, being exact at 07.38 this morning. Venus is love, Pluto is loss, and I don’t need to say anymore in terms of how this is showing in my own life. One of my very first astrology teachers, the late Derek Appleby, used to say, “Pluto slams the door behind him and there is no going back”. All people and all things have their time.
The Sun is also making tough aspects this week, that quinqunx again – awkward name, awkward aspect that is formed when two planets are exactly 5 signs apart from each other. To repeat from last week, this aspect is known as a blind spot, notoriously linked to accident and illness, or contentious issues in which it’s impossible to understand someone else’s point of view or vice versa. The Sun is now in Leo, his sign of dignity, but in quinqunx to Neptune on Wednesday (05.46) and then to Pluto at the very end of the week, exact next Monday (00.58). The outer planets are never easy at the best of times but these aspects are likely to bring out their most difficult sides, Neptune’s being grief/confusion/illusion/deception and Pluto’s being loss/finality/jealousy or any of the difficult emotions connected to love gone wrong. “This too shall pass” is probably a good mantra to work with.
Mercury is also in the picture again but in a much more positive way. He is coasting through the end degrees of Cancer without picking up any aspects to the other planets and then moves into Leo on Thursday, the ingress being exact late on that day at 23.47. You may remember that Jupiter has recently moved into Leo too so Mercury catches up with Jupiter quite quickly, making the conjunction on Saturday (20.34). This picks out Saturday night as the best time of the week as Mercury/Jupiter contacts are lucky, sociable and the bringers of good news.
However the mixed bag theme is very strong at the moment. This week it’s Venus’ turn to tangle with the outer planets. On Friday –
Venus square (inharmonious) Uranus (05.44)
Venus trine (harmonious) Saturn (11.23)
Uranus by square signals the unexpected, disruption or splits. Saturn by trine signals resolution, firm decisions and new agreements. So out of the chaos there’s a sense of finding the right answers or deciding where your heart lies, either in love or in how you make a living. Friday also brings Mars square Jupiter (23.48). This is an interesting aspect as it’s already formed twice – 8 January and 22 April – when Mars was going backwards and forwards for months on end in Libra, one of his signs of detriment, and Jupiter was in Cancer. Both planets have just changed sign so in this third and final square we have Mars in Scorpio, one of his signs of dignity, and Jupiter now blazing away in Leo. We also have Mercury square Mars at the weekend, exact in the early hours of Sunday (01.02).
All of this feels both intense and volatile but also like a huge shift. If there’s something you’ve been putting up with, skirting around, someone or something you’ve been endlessly making excuses for, this feels like a final showdown. The overall mood is somewhat tetchy but it’s a time for clearing the air rather than for avoidance. I’m reminded that it’s the difficult things in life that make us reshape our priorities for the better.