The Astrology Blog 3 August 2020
All times in BST
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”
“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.”
“We cannot change anything unless we accept it.”
― Carl Jung – Sun in Leo exactly conjunct Descendant
https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Carl_Jung
One of the horrifying consequences of long lockdown periods has been the escalation of domestic violence. This includes emotional violence, such as being bullied, treated with contempt and being made to feel undeserving. Sadly but notably I’ve had several examples of this in both my client work and amongst friends over this last week or so. And this includes two men being on the receiving end. What’s the current astrology for this coming so forcibly to the foreground?
THE FULL MOON
This week starts with the Full Moon, a notoriously tinderbox moment for “lunacy” (lunar). The Moon correlates to the 4th House of the horoscope, where we locate home and family dynamics. I’ll never forget Michael R, who attended a workshop of mine many years ago now, who used to be in the police force. He told me that at the times of the Full Moon the local station would be on full alert, “get ready for the domestics”. Big, tough, burly experienced cops know that astrology works. History proved it.
This Full Moon in Aquarius falls in a square (friction) to Uranus, the planet that co-rules this sign. And as I’m fond of saying, Uranus is the astrologer’s basic nightmare as he’s unpredictable. At best he’s change of the spontaneous and unusual kind. At worst, he’s friction personified – the loose cannon, the rug puller, the rebel, the tipping point, the match tossed into the inflammable situation. So this is a double whammy Full Moon, or even triple, as it’s immediately followed by feisty god of war Mars aspects. More on that further down.
Also slow moving Uranus is especially weighty at the moment as he’s “stationary retrograde”, ie stuck at 10 degrees of Taurus as he prepares to turn retrograde at this degree in less than two weeks time.
Starting with the serious stuff first, the abuse issue, If you are in any kind of abusive relationship, or if you know someone else who is, there are two things that are helpful, if not crucial, starting points. What are the hallmarks of the abuser? And why is it so hard to “just leave”? The following bullet points are by no means the complete list but they sum up the essence of these issues:
Hallmarks of the Abusive Personality
- Abusive people believe they have the right to control and restrict their partner – or anyone else in a key one to one relationship with them, such as an employee
- They either enjoy the feeling that exerting power gives them, or proving their own power makes them feel safe and in control
- The abuser ring-fences their partner – gradually reducing or totally removing all contact with friends and family, including through creating rifts. This fosters dependency
- Others learn to keep the peace with them, walking on eggshells and often going to extreme lengths to avoid saying/doing things that might provoke them
- Good behavior – ie subservience, doing things their way – is rewarded
- Abusive people are brilliant at the “putdown” – either blatantly or subtly, they demean, ridicule, intimidate, bully or belittle (how can you be so stupid, you need to lose weight, you spent money on what?) which all erode confidence and replace this vital life force with shame, feelings of being trapped and powerlessness
- The belittling behavior is mostly done behind closed doors, not in public, ensuring that others not only never see this side but rather are struck at how charming this person is
- The relationship is essentially all about the abuser – their troubles, problems, difficult childhoods etc. You are expected to make huge and special allowances for their awful formative experiences, even though these are nothing to do with you and not your fault
- The abusive person expects or demands continual empathy but is usually incapable of feeling or giving any in return
Why it’s so hard to “just leave”
- We believe that we love our partner and more importantly that they love us – and need us. We “should” stay
- We think that things will change – even when there’s a long history of overwhelming evidence to the contrary
- We gradually get the message that our partner will be a better and happier person if we are a better partner ourselves (ie we assume blame, and then feel crippling guilt when we think of leaving). We find ourselves making excuses for them
- It’s not bad all of the time, but only because we are locked into the 4 stage cycle of abuse – the building of tension, the explosion of abuse, reconciliation, a period of calm. This includes tears, apologies, promises, even a real honeymoon period, it will never happen again – and then the cycle starts all over again
- This also links to what is known as “intermittent reinforcement” – ie every now and then we see the person we fell in love with and we re-experience the joy. It doesn’t last, but it’s a highly addictive pattern, it becomes a drug that we crave
- Loss of confidence and independence makes the logistics of leaving a terrifying prospect
- Social status – we don’t want to admit to the world that our relationship is a failure
- Fear of being alone again
- In extreme cases, fear of reprisal
- Nobody has any full understanding of how abused and controlled they’ve been until they’ve got out
How to Break the Destructive Cycle
- Accept that it is Never … Going … to … Change
- Tell someone what is going on – this breaks the shame and collusion of secrecy
- Get advice and seek help – a therapist, a friend, a family member, a neighbor, refuge centre, anyone!
- If you are at risk, and if you possibly can – just get out. Any pretext will do. Then you can rebuild
WHAT ELSE DOES THE FULL MOON SIGNIFY?
Monday 3 August
- Full Moon 12 Aquarius 17.00 (square Uranus) 17.00
- Mercury 27 Cancer opposite Saturn 27 Capricorn 22.01
Tuesday 4 August
- Mars 19 Aries square Jupiter 19 Capricorn 14.08
Thursday 6 August
- Mars 20 Aries quinqunx Neptune 20 Pisces 08.33
Whatever issues you might be currently dealing with in your life, Jung’s words of wisdom, we cannot change anything unless we accept it, are worth taking on board. If we spend hours talking and raging about the same thing this is a sign that we haven’t accepted it. We’re still ranting about it too much to deal with it. If we have a constant and circular battle going on in our own head then this too is a sign that we haven’t accepted it. We know when we’ve accepted something because generally it either stops being an issue or we are able to do something about it.
We are all beset with minor issues pretty much all of the time. Daily life is wrapped up with our own versions of list ticking. But if a major issue dominates and blights your life how long have you been consumed with it? Days, weeks, months, years, can’t remember? If nothing else the times of the Full Moon link to illumination, matters coming full circle or to fruition. In Aquarius themes of understanding are underlined as this is an air sign, associated with the intellect generally and brilliance in particular. Aquarius and Uranus both also rule rebellion and all that is non conformist or just different. If you need to break away, or you’re looking for a breakthrough, the conditions are textbook.
If you have planets at or close to 10-12 degrees of Aquarius/Taurus then you’ll probably already be aware of a volatile situation or of going through a phase of disruption. This Full Moon suggests that you’re now at “the heart of the matter”.
At a universal level Aquarius and Uranus between them rule the collective, everything from worldwide concerns to involvement with your own friends and groups. The spread of the virus is obviously part of this package with rules around lockdown and social distancing measures affecting nearly everyone. For many having to change or delay plans is an ongoing theme.
Along with the Full Moon is Mercury’s last aspect before changing sign, an opposition to Saturn. This is end of the road stuff, symbolizing things like cancellations, tough decisions or “ne’er the twain shall meet”. Mercury the Winged Messenger wants to talk and circulate, but by opposition Saturn is silence and the brick wall, or bad timing.
And as already noted Mars is part of the picture too, playing into the major Jupiter – Neptune aspect that was exact for the second this time last week (third and final one to come 12 October). Interestingly all of my troubled clients or friends at the moment are without exception either Pisceans (ruled by Jupiter and Neptune) or Virgos (the opposite sign) or they are Capricorns (Saturn’s sign) or the opposite sign of Cancer. But if you have other planets apart from the Sun or Angles in any of these signs, and particularly at the degrees mentioned, then events unfolding this week are likely to be pivotal for you.
MARS ON A MISSION
The Mars aspects are important because they are playing into a major aspect that is part of the backdrop for the year and also because these aspects are going to repeat. Yes, you’ve guessed it, Mars is the next planet due for a retrograde period. This won’t start until 9 September, when Mars is nearly at the end of Aries, but Mars will then spend two months backtracking to the middle of the sign. This all adds up to Mars spending 6 months in Aries instead of the usual 2. The aspects to Jupiter and Neptune will repeat 19 – 22 October, Mars to Neptune 5 December and the final Mars square Jupiter, when they’ve both changed signs, next January.
The Mars aspects are not easy, especially the square to Jupiter. Both the aspect (square) and the planet (Jupiter) are connected to things going over the top. Jupiter’s principle is expansion which is great when applied to the good things of life but not so joyful when it’s the difficult stuff.
Maggie Hyde is giving a webinar this coming weekend –
The main focus will be on Mars as the ancient symbolism of ‘pestilence’ and the significant six-month passage of Mars in Aries, from 28 June 2020 until 6 January 2021. As discontent and anger arises amongst populaces everywhere, Mars, god of war, also stirs the politics of aggression that is building between nations (America, China, Russia) and the Trump v Trump dilemma of the US election.
I don’t know how many places are still available but if you want to find out more go to www.companyofastrologers.com
At a personal level note that Mars is powerful in his own sign of go getting Aries, but it’s not going to be a full speed journey along an open highway. Keep things flexible. I’ll be talking about Mars’ journey more in coming weeks but for now take note of what unfolds and comes to light for you around these first aspects in the immediate aftermath of the Full Moon.
NEW CYCLES
Other celestial events are more cheering – hurray! Both Mercury and Venus have a cycle of one year. This means that, like the Sun, they take a year to travel through all of the 12 signs. However the Sun is linear, moving at a constant rate of one degree a day and is never retrograde. Mercury and Venus both have retrograde cycles, which they’ve both just finished, so they spend some periods of time meandering, resulting in spending more time in some signs than they do in others, and leading us a not so merry dance in the process.
The journey evens itself out so that by the end of any 12 month period they will have travelled through all 12 signs. They have both just come “out of shadow”, meaning that they have returned to the degree at which they originally turned retrograde and are now back up to full speed.
- Mercury has been in Cancer since 28 May
- Came out of shadow 26 July
- Venus has been in Gemini since 3 April
- Came out of shadow 29 July
They both now also change sign this week, new beginnings that for some will be connected to leaving behind complicated or tedious issues that have been playing out or dragging on during the last two to three months.Like my on-off internet problem – yay, it’s now fixed, an engineer has finally installed new cables!
Wednesday 5 August
- Mercury ingress Leo 04.33
Friday 7 August
- Venus ingress Cancer 16.22
Mercury’s change of sign is extremely positive for confidence, a central theme to this week’s blog. As a natal placing, from Be Your Own Astrologer –
This is the archetype of the speech maker, those who command respectful attention and make public speaking an art form, like Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela. Even when the inner nature is humble they know how to capture a crowd. These people have big ideas and want others to feel their passion. Look at Richard Branson.
So Mercury finally emerging from the mute sign of Cancer, the sideways moving Crab, now has the chance to speak directly instead of indirectly, to make thoughts and feelings known, to start creative projects and to get organized. Leo has brilliant management skills. To those who don’t know what to do with their lives I always say, identify your passion. We all have something we feel passionate about and if you can turn it into your living then you’ve cracked it. Whatever, we’re in the Leo time of year with the Sun in his own sign and Mercury can now also get fired and draw attention rather than hiding out.
Venus coming out of shadow in Gemini (Mercury’s sign, ruling transport and admin of all kinds) last week brought several stories. She’s the love planet, but she also rules money. Stories that came to light exactly on 29 July included resolving a long horrible experience for a young woman and parent of small children of having her bank account hacked and credit card accounts created fraudulently in her name, winning substantial compensation after a very long battle against a local council on the subject of local school transport, and being able to bypass a complex paper chase for a sizeable tax rebate as the cheque simply turned up in the post. Happy days!
With Mercury having been retrograde and Venus then finally exiting Mercury’s sign is like a double plus for resolving anything that’s been an admin nightmare. On the love and emotional front Venus leaving the double sign of the Twins and entering the Moon’s sign of Cancer ticks a lot of boxes for things like clearer choices, commitment, creating security, home making, nurturing family relationships and generally recognizing your own needs in terms of what/who nourishes and feeds you, rather than what/who leaves you feeling hungry and empty.
Add lashings of confidence to your diet!
Until next week, with love from Greece
Joanna