The Astrology Blog 28 September 2020
All times in BST
“If you don’t heal what hurt you, you’ll bleed on those who didn’t cut you.”
Anon
“We don’t get wounded alone – and we don’t heal alone.”
Carl Jung
https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Carl_Jung
Last week Venus the love and money planet began a series of awkward aspects to the four major planets that have been continually in the headlines throughout this year. She made the quinqunx, the awkward by name awkward by nature alignment that happens when two planet are exactly five signs apart, to Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto last week, and this week starts with the same aspect to Saturn –
Monday 28 September
- Venus 25 Leo quinqunx Saturn 25 Capricorn 21.24
As I was saying last week –
… this is a minor aspect but it’s usually not minor by impact. When planets are five signs apart they have absolutely nothing in common so it’s blind spots, ne’er the twain shall meet arguments, mismatches and compatibility issues, illnesses that are hard to pinpoint or treat, concerns that are difficult to deal with in a straightforward way, other people – or us – acting out of character, making mistakes or misjudgments through tiredness or wrong information – and so on.
All I can say is that pretty much all of these points showed in one way or another. This whole sequence started with Venus at 17 Leo, the position of my natal Moon, and my own blind spots included pranging the car when suddenly having to reverse out of a narrow road, and then joining the students for their first night meal on Wednesday evening, somehow without hearing that a major storm was blowing in. It was basically a mini typhoon, it lasted about 20 minutes and was spectacular, but while everyone was marveling at the sheet lightning, huge hailstones and palm trees at right angles all I could think about was my poor dogs and the fact that I’d left the study windows open ….
I got home as soon as I could, the dogs were fine, but sure enough my floors were paddling pools (god of the sea Neptune’s deluge) littered with floating paperwork. So glad I’d paid a cleaner to do the house that same morning! Miraculously the computer was okay, only the keyboard had to be replaced. And after a long very hot summer I could feel the damp chill my body, as I wasn’t dressed warmly enough for a typhoon I didn’t know was coming, and I also fell ill, which I’m now shaking off. But it’s meant not being able to eat out with everyone these last few evenings.
THE LOVE PLANETS/SATURN TURNS DIRECT
So, now we have the Venus – Saturn alignment to get through today, which is being underlined by the fact that Saturn is now SD – stationary direct – and the exact turning point is tomorrow:
Tuesday 29 September
- Venus 25 Leo trine Mars 25 Aries 02.02
- Saturn turns direct 25 Capricorn 06.13
- Mars 25 Aries square Saturn 25 Capricorn 22.50
Saturn turning direct in itself is good news, it’s like a great big cosmic foot being lifted off the brakes, brakes that have been jammed on for the last four months. Here’s a reminder of what Saturn stands for –
Saturn – main principle is contraction – the opposite to Jupiter’s expansion. If Jupiter is “yes”, Saturn is “no”. He is known as the Greater Malefic, the bringer of solemnity, restriction, obstacles, boundaries and endings, ultimately death (as until the discovery of the outer planets he was the end of the known universe). He rules authority, career, duty and responsibility. His nature is pessimistic, realistic and serious, but results come through being hardworking, constructive and committed.
Take note of what happens today as the “blind spot” alignment with Venus may give you some clues re money or relationship issues. Also note where Saturn turns around in your own horoscope. In other words, in which house do you find the degree of 25 Capricorn? If you don’t have a copy of your own horoscope you can find this info by entering your data into the astrotheme website link at the beginning of this newsletter – under the heading checking charts.
Each house has its own domain and they work as opposites. Saturn’s turning point will relate at least partly to the issues belonging to the house in which he turns –
| 1st House – the Self | 7th House – Significant Other |
| 2nd House – Personal finances, the resources for life | 8th House – Shared finances, death and goods of the dead |
| 3rd House – Communication, local environment and early education for survival | 9th House – Higher education and wider horizons, for experience and understanding |
| 4th House – Home, family and private life | 10th House – Purpose and public life |
| 5th House – Personal pleasures and creativity, children | 11th House – Group pleasures and concerns, friends |
| 6th House – Physical health, service | 12th House – Spiritual life, sacrifice |
You’ll see from the list of aspects for tomorrow that Saturn’s turning point is flanked by Venus and Mars aspects. It’s a mixed bag as Venus and Mars themselves align by trine (harmonious, being both in fire signs, being with those with whom you feel “in your element”) but their links to Saturn are both inharmonious –
Tuesday 29 September
- Venus 25 Leo trine Mars 25 Aries 02.02
- Saturn turns direct 25 Capricorn 06.13
- Mars 25 Aries square Saturn 25 Capricorn 22.50
The picture is also annoyingly compounded by the fact that Mars (action, purpose, desire) has just turned retrograde, and won’t turn direct again until the middle of November, which in turn means that this square (clashes, friction) with Saturn (delays, roadblocks, frustration) is actually the first of three rather than being a one off. Here’s the full Mars – Saturn timeline that is going to play out between now and the beginning of next year –
- 24 August – Mars 26 Aries square Saturn 26 Capricorn 1st time
- 9 September – Mars turned retrograde at 28 Aries
- 29 September – Mars 25 Aries square Saturn 25 Capricorn 2nd time
- 14 November – Mars turns direct at 15 Aries
- 17 December – Saturn changes sign and enters Aquarius
- 6 January – Mars changes sign and enters Taurus
- 13 January 2021 – Mars 3 Taurus square Saturn 3 Aquarius 3rd and final time
So it’s another long and winding road but with a definite shift at the end of the year when Saturn (and Jupiter) move into Aquarius, and the final Mars – Saturn square happening in new signs. This might feel like exchanging one set of challenges for another but at least by then matters will be taking a new shape and won’t be stuck on repeat.
FULL MOON – WOUNDING/HEALING
What do we actually mean when we talk about wounding? Obvious and deliberate abuse is clearly the top of the list but you don’t have to have experienced an abusive childhood to that extent to qualify. That’s part of the human problem. Many of us feel almost unentitled to our personal pain and hurts, knowing that in the bigger picture of world suffering we’ve got off lightly. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t carry our own kind of emotional wounds, that early imprinting that happens to us all, for good or more often for ill. Even if we had loving and aware parents there is usually something, somewhere, that at some point made us feel anywhere on the scale from undeserving to worthless.
Those are the kind of messages that do damage. They create deep seated beliefs which, unless examined and corrected, will keep us stuck to our old script. In other words, we continue to make our choices and create experiences based on what we first learned about ourselves. And we DO stick to old scripts because early conditioning ensures that we stick to what is familiar, even if that familiarity has never actually made us happy. We still choose it because we know it.
Rewiring our neural pathways is a big job but it’s why the world of psychotherapy and astrology – and any other means of deeper awareness – is so valuable. When we stop believing the lies we’ve been told or which we tell ourselves then we step into an authentic place, that delightful experience of just being yourself instead of trying to be the person you imagine others want you to be. We also stop projecting our wounded issues onto others or holding them responsible for the things they never did to us. This isn’t new. It was Socrates who said that the unexamined life isn’t worth living.
This month’s Full Moon falls in Aries (the individual, ego, self) conjunct Chiron The Wounded Healer and at odds with Uranus –
Thursday 1 October
- Full Moon 9 Aries (conjunct Chiron 7 Aries) 22.00
Friday 2 October
- Sun 9 Libra quinqunx Uranus 14.32
In terms of planetary weightiness Chiron is the new kid on the block, discovered in 1977 which coincided with spiraling awareness of the mind – body – spirit connection. So Chiron may be an infant in terms of years in our consciousness, yet he has already found his way into most Ephemerides, the book of tables that tracks the journeys of all the major planets. Chiron is here to stay. Here’s the lowdown on his symbolic purpose –
Melanie Reinhart is a recognized Chiron expert who writes that his importance lies in how “he points to the issues that accompany the path of awakening, such as health crises, life-changing experiences, meetings with teachers, recapitulation of old trauma or major insights”.
In mythology Chiron is recognized as the most superior Centaur, standing apart from his unruly brethren. Civilized, knowledgeable and kind this skilled physician, teacher, astrologer and oracle is a fount of ancient wisdom. Ultimately, he is the archetype of the Wounded Healer as, unable to use his healing arts upon himself, Chiron gave up his god status in order to die and thereby end the eternal agony of a poisoned arrow wound. The full power of his message is captured in his “rebirth”, being returned to source and immortalized in the constellation of Centaurus.
Example as a natal placing – Alexander Fleming had Chiron conjunct Jupiter (archetype of the Protector and known as the Greater Benefic) in Taurus (sign of physical matter) in the 11th house (the collective). His discovery of penicillin continues to save millions worldwide.
This week’s Full Moon falls in close conjunction with Chiron (only 2 degrees apart) so with the Full Moon themes of illumination and revelation, of things coming full circle or going nuts, all I can say is to pay close attention to whatever crawls out of the woodwork! Especially so as Chiron is also currently retrograde, taking us “back” and maybe even probing a wound we hadn’t noticed or which we’d believed healed. Note in which house in your horoscope the Full Moon will fall. And if you have planets or Angles at or close to 7 – 9 degrees Aries or the opposite sign of Libra then this Full Moon takes on even more importance.
In recent work with some of my online students we’ve been looking at Sarah Ferguson’s chart –
- She has her Moon at 6.37 Aries conjunct her 5th House (Children) cusp of 8 Aries
- She has synastry with both daughters on this point
- Beatrice has Mars at 9.20 Aries
- Eugenie has Sun 2.53 Aries conjunct her Mercury at 7.37
So they’re all in the middle of a long ongoing Chiron transit which is unmistakable symbolism for the wounding in the family being caused by Andrew’s fall from grace. In terms of the healing side of the coin Chiron will turn direct again 16 December at 5 Aries and by then I would expect news of either of the daughters being pregnant.
THE SUN & VENUS – WORKING AS A TEAM
Venus is finishing her journey through Leo, which is the Sun’s sign. The Sun in turn is now in Libra (since last Tuesday) which is Venus’ sign. I forgot to mention this last week but when two planets occupy each other’s signs this is called a Mutual Reception. This is a highly beneficial feature, indicating opportunities to make or arrive at arrangements, agreements or exchanges that are mutually beneficial, particularly between yourself and a loved one, and it lasts until Venus changes sign again at the end of the week –
Friday 2 October
- Venus ingress Virgo 21.49
I’ll be talking about Venus’s new cycle next time but for now any kind of love or money negotiating gets a huge tick, and this mutual reception also feels helpful in terms of backing up any other healing work going on in your life. Certainly if you need help of any kind it’s a great time to ask for it, and love issues of all kinds can prosper through genuine heart to hearts. Again, whatever you want from your relationship, ask for it. Or if you’re trying to get a new romance up and running, or if you’re trying to get out of the wrong relationship, let your feelings be known. Either way, truth is a game changer.
LAST WORD TO PLUTO
Jupiter turned direct 13 September, Saturn turns direct at the beginning of this week and finally Pluto turns direct at the end of the week –
Sunday 4 October
- Pluto turns direct 22 Capricorn 13.31
So again this is a major turning point worth noting as Pluto is the slowest moving planet of the lot and has been retrograde since 25 April, slowly rewinding from 25 to 22 degrees Capricorn. As Pluto rules everything to do with regeneration and rebirth – starting over with anything important in your life or ushering in new things after a long period of stagnation or absence – these again are healing themes to look out for, now and in the coming weeks.
Next week we return to the Mars square Pluto sequence, and we’ll have Mercury stationing in Scorpio (slowing down in readiness for turning retrograde) which in turn is Pluto’s sign, so there’s a lot change/rebirth stuff ahead. This week don’t be afraid to lay the groundwork for any plans or intentions for the rest of this year,
Until next week, love from Greece
Joanna
