Your Arrows of Desire & Truth, Jupiter, Mercury and the Venus – Uranus Finale
The Astrology Blog 26 November 2018
All times given are stated in GMT
I’ll start with a reminder about the major aspect that was exact early this morning:
Monday 26 November
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Sun conjunct Jupiter 4 Sagittarius 06.34
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Retrograde Mercury 6 Sagittarius square Mars 6 Pisces 08.07
As I wrote at the end of last week’s blog this aspect happens only once a year as:
- Jupiter takes a year to travel through each sign, and
- The Sun travels through all 12 signs once a year, so
- They catch up with each other every 13 months.
- The last one was 26 October 2017 at 4 Scorpio and
- The next one will be 27 Dec 2019 at 5 Capricorn
How long does it last?
This union that we’re now enjoying is especially powerful as Jupiter is in “dignity” – in his own sign of Sagittarius. And the Sun is symbolically at home in any of the fire signs.
Planets are said to be in conjunction when they are up to 8 degrees apart and this one stays “in orb” up until the end of next week. In fact, it stays in orb until 6 December which interestingly, is also the day that Mercury turns direct.
Keep your eye on that ball as there may well be “the moment” for you to grab something or make a vital move before the chance disappears.
Arrows of Desire
If we could visibly see this conjunction in the sky it would be a blaze of glory!
The best example of Sun conjunct Jupiter in Sag as a natal placing, is poet William Blake (born November 28, 1757) who wrote the hymn Jerusalem. Who else could have written these lines?
Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!
Arrows of Desire and Truth
These lines are Sagittarius The Archer come to life.
The phrase “Chariot of fire” has become a symbol for divine energy and inspired the title of the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, in which the hymn Jerusalem is sung.
So take a moment to ponder where your own divine energy comes from. This isn’t about being religious – although it can be – but about recognizing ourselves as a spiritual being. Being aware of ourselves as mind, body and spirit.
This might show as:
- Recognizing providence at work
- Being aware of the unseen hand behind the scenes
- Or a stronger than usual intuition – that I “just know” feeling.
Note that this is very different from what the world of psychotherapy calls “marked impulsivity” – which tends to be reckless or destructive.
How do we spot the difference?
Genuine intuition is when we make some kind of connection that is deeply meaningful and helpful to us. In my own experience it tends to come with a sense of deep calm or satisfaction rather than over excitement.
So much for the inner world, what about the outer one?
What do you want, what are your real desires, what makes you feel passionate?
The Sun – Jupiter double act is packed with possibility along the lines of luck, fun and generosity, of spirit or materially, the events or people that point the way to our path of good fortune and opportunity.
It’s about travel or those from abroad coming to us.
It’s also about optimism and liberation.
Whatever has you feeling shackled at the moment can change but, again as I said last week, it’s a shame that this has coincided with a retrograde Mercury, also in Sag and within a couple of hours of Mercury squaring up to Mars.
So you may well already be looking a dilemma full in the face, knowing secretly – or not so secretly – what is good for you, what you want to do, but also knowing that certain decisions or conversations are going to be tricky or even painful. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t go ahead with them.
As above, so below
To action what is for your higher good comes with a price tag – but given the enormity and benefic nature of the Sun – Jupiter – then it’s likely to be a price worth paying. Or a sacrifice worth making, definitely in the long run. Even if it creates more problems than it solves, in the short term.
The Archer fires his arrows and pursues them. Sagittarians know all about vision and the future so take a string from their bow.
Keep moving forwards. Painful things are not necessarily bad news, they can be catalysts, such as making changes that we know we should’ve made a long time ago.
Retrograde Mercury often brings second chances as we scroll back through a timeline and revisit how something got so complicated or conflicted in the first place.
Ongoing communication, no matter how difficult, is a major theme as retrograde Mercury is a dominant player on this week’s stage:
Tuesday 27 November
- Sun conjunct Mercury 5 Sagittarius 09.16
- Mars 7 Pisces sextile Saturn 7 Capricorn 21.32
- Mercury conjunct Jupiter 4 Sagittarius 22.28
Whenever Mercury is in a retrograde period there’s always an exact conjunction with the Sun. This is when Mercury is said to be “cazimi” – when he’s conjunct the Sun to within 17 minutes of arc (ie just over a quarter of a degree) and therefore in “the heart of the Sun”.
The symbolism of this is about Mercury drawing strength from that heat instead of being burned up by it.
It’s a window of opportunity – it doesn’t last long!
But it’s the stuff of light bulb moments, vital information or having the chance to get your point across exactly in the right way and at the right time.
This cazimi lasts from approximately 6am to midday GMT so if you’ve got important matters to deal with, a decision to make or a deal to negotiate, tomorrow is your morning! (or later/earlier depending on your time zone, eg in Greece it will be 8am to 2pm).
Mercury then moves on to conjunct Jupiter which is a textbook aspect for good news and positive exchanges of all kindsalthough with the retrograde themes at work there may be some details that are either obscured or which will change.
For example, if you’re handling something sensitive you might decide that there are some things that another person doesn’t need to hear, for their own good or for yours!
And if you sense that someone isn’t telling you the whole story, or that they’re twisting things to fit their own version, then you’ll probably be right. Look out for the spin doctors!
Note that because Mercury is retrograde (going backwards and forwards rather than in a straight line) this is a repeating aspect, the middle one of three:
Mercury conjunct Jupiter
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29 October at 27 Scorpio (Mercury moving forwards)
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27 November at 5 Sagittarius (Mercury moving backwards)
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21 December at 9 Sagittarius (Mercury moving forwards again)
So look out for a theme with any matter that started at the end of last month, especially if you have planets or angles at or close to the above degrees and signs, as there’s definitely more to come.
The middle contact, the one this week, when Mercury is retrograde is often the frustrating one but often the crucial one too!
The third is about closure or resolution. I await that third one with great interest as it falls exactly conjunct my own Sun. I have an iron in the fire that may well sizzle but in the spirit of retrograde Mercury am not saying any more at the moment!
Also note that tomorrow’s Mercury aspects are either side of the Mars – Saturn sextile
This is very steadying, and rather welcome as it’s Saturn’s first appearance since the sextile to the Sun on 28 October.
In other words Saturn has been elbowed out for the past month and, even though he’s the taskmaster of the zodiac and often gets bad press, we all need a bit of Saturn in our lives from time to time to keep things real, grounded and grown up.
However, complacency is a no-no, even if you think something’s wrapped up, done and dusted, signed and sealed. Think again. Mercury is still retrograde until the 6 December, so at best some more patience or waiting games are on the cards, and at worst something may yet unravel.
This coming weekend is not without its wobbly moments, in general for life’s pleasures and in particular for love or money issues, as Venus lines up opposite rebellious and unpredictable Uranus and then goes into Scorpio, followed by Mercury:
Saturday 1 December
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Venus 29 Libra opposite Uranus 29 Aries 02.13
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Retrograde Mercury goes back into Scorpio 11.13
Sunday 2 December
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Venus ingress Scorpio 17.03
This is actually more of a complex picture than it at first appears – and again this is down to a lot recent retrograde activity.
Here’s the sequence for Venus over the last two months, showing the “stations” and the oppositions to Uranus who is retrograde throughout, and how these oppositions fall across signs:
- 9 Sept – Entered Scorpio
- 12 September – Venus 2 Scorpio opposite Uranus 2 Taurus
- 5 October – Turned retrograde
- 31 October – Venus 0 Scorpio opposite Uranus 0 Taurus, and then slid back into Libra
- 6 November – Uranus slid back into Aries
- 16 November – Turned direct at 25 Libra
- 1 December – Venus 29 Libra opposite Uranus 29 Aries
- 2 December – Venus enters Scorpio for the 2nd time and will travel through this sign until 7 Jan
Just looking at this list rather makes my head spin!
If it looks complicated it’s because, well, it is.
Any ongoing love or money drama will almost certainly reach some kind of finale – but probably not without one almighty sting in the tail.
The flipside to Scorpio’s resilience, emotional depth and determination is jealousy, destructiveness or control freakery. So affairs, or any kind of triangular set up, are going to be super sensitized. Especially if you have planets or angles at, or close to, the above degrees and signs.
Be very careful not to sabotage a relationship (personal or professional) – but conversely don’t let anyone hold a gun to your head.
Any major aspect falling at the very end of signs – as with this third and final Venus/Uranus on 1 December – signals the end of a cycle, the closing of a matter. But with Venus in her own sign of the Scales and then moving back into Scorpio, where she’s in “detriment” – it’s a delicate balancing act, to put it mildly.
By opposition, Uranus can signal events that are extremely disruptive
He’s also known as the divorce planet, especially when in conflict with Venus.
The end of this 2-month sequence also coincides with Mercury sliding back into Scorpio. So Venus is at the beginning of the sign – with Mercury at the end of it – so the emotional tides will be high.
But at the end of the day, anything that’s been causing you nothing but strain and grief can’t continue in its current state. Something’s gotta give. Focus on self awareness and be ruthlessly honest with yourself.
Finally there’s one more aspect to take into account, which falls just as we tip into next week:
Monday 3 December
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Sun 4 Sagittarius square Mars 4 Pisces 00.35
So, the week starts with Mercury square Mars and ends with Sun square Mars.
This is energetic, feisty, passionate, sentimental, touchy, argumentative, manipulative, worrying or confusing – or all of those things wrapped into one.
Complex situations have many threads running through them. So it’s best not to get steamed up if you can possibly avoid it.
Get as much sleep as possible and keep doing reality checks. The practice of mindfulness teaches us to do this. To keep checking in with our inner critic and the facts. To ask ourselves, “Is this true? If so, how true?”
Getting the picture back in focus is going to be increasingly important, as Mercury will be “stationing” at this time too. This means Mercury is slowing down in readiness for turning direct next Thursday 6 December. I’ll be talking about this in more detail next time.
Until then, stay true to you,
With love from Greece
Joanna