The Astrology Blog 19 April 2021
All times in BST
“Challenging situations create the force needed to bring about change. The problem is that we generally use all the stirred up energy intended to bring about change, to resist change.”
– from The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life’s Perfection
“Fear is the cause of every problem. It’s the root of all prejudices and the negative emotions of anger, jealousy, and possessiveness. If you had no fear, you could be perfectly happy living in this world.”
– from The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself
Author – Michael A. Singer – born 6 May 1947
WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK?
JUPITER – PLUTO
All the current activity is crammed into the end of the week but we start with a minor aspect between Jupiter and Pluto as they come together by semi-sextile, an alignment that is formed when two planets are exactly one sign (30 degrees) apart –
Tuesday 20 April
- Jupiter 26 Aquarius semi-sextile Pluto 26 Capricorn 19.49
You may remember that last year Jupiter was on his journey through Capricorn (Jupiter takes a year to travel through each sign) and joined up with Pluto three times. Jupiter rules everything to do with foreign fields and the means of getting there, Pluto is lord of wipeouts and black holes. Bringing the two together and we had clear symbolism for all the problems with international travel, airlines going bust or having to be bailed out with massive government rescue funds, spookily quiet airports and so on.
This combination that we’re seeing now also repeats three times (because of retrograde periods, the second and third alignments will fall in September and November) but as it’s a minor aspect it doesn’t pack quite the same weighty punch.
However, a lot of astrological interpretation relies on spotting themes so this first one is worth noting as the exact alignment – to the degree and minute of the sign – falls as Pluto is “stationary retrograde”, ie poised to switch to reverse. The aspect is therefore being underlined and is attracting extra attention –
- Jupiter 26.47 Aquarius semi-sextile Pluto 26.47 Capricorn
- Pluto will turn retrograde at 26.48 Capricorn next Tuesday, 27 April
- Pluto’s turning point itself also picks up a theme as 27 April is also the Full Moon in Scorpio, Pluto’s sign
The slower moving the planet, the longer the retrograde periods. Pluto is the slowest moving body so won’t turn direct again until October but the turning points of any planet switching from direct to retrograde or vice versa are always worth noting. And because of last year’s showing of the combination of these two planets my first “take” on it was that it would be reflecting the ongoing challenges of getting the world moving again. Jupiter is also the freedom planet, the very thing that we’ve all had to learn to live without (Pluto), at least in the way that we knew it.
At the moment in the travel industry this seems to be showing in the ever changing rules, regulations and difficulties involved in ensuring that those who do get on a plane are safe to do so. And it’s also showing in the fact that, at least for those in the UK, it’s currently illegal to travel abroad unless you have an approved reason for doing so.
But it’s not just about travel. Anything connected to Jupiter symbolism is still carrying the Pluto price tag and this is showing universally, and will apply personally to something unfolding in your own life if you have planets or Angles at or close to 26 degrees of Aquarius or Capricorn, or their opposite signs of Leo or Cancer.
Someone asked me last week to do a reminder that when I say Angles I mean the beginning of the Angular Houses, marking the highly sensitive axis that locks the chart into place and which is determined purely by the time of birth –
- Ascendant – beginning of the 1st House (self)
- Descendant – beginning of the 7th House (partner, relationships)
- MC – or Midheaven – beginning of the 10th House (career, goals)
- IC – beginning of the 4th House (home, family, property)
Here’s a story that came up last week. Jupiter’s main principle is expansion and a friend in the UK may have the chance to do a council house swap, moving from a two bedroom to a three bedroom home which is what she needs as she has two children on the point of becoming teenagers. She asked me to look at her chart.
The move to a bigger (expansion of her living space) property is showing as Jupiter has just crossed her IC of 24 Aquarius, sensitizing that crucial Angle and starting his journey through her 4th House. That’s the good news, it’s what I would call textbook astrology, but she’s seen the new house from the outside, and it’s rundown, with black (Pluto’s colour) plastic over the upstairs bedroom windows. She’s also seen a couple of photos of the inside and it’s not in great condition, to put it mildly.
The actual viewing date is the day after the looming Scorpio Full Moon next week, and the chart for the viewing has the Moon still in Scorpio (Moon’s sign of “fall”, most difficult placing) but strongly placed in the 4th House, which is not only the House of property but the Moon’s “Natural House” (explained further below). Back to the importance of themes, this echoes my friend’s own horoscope as she has a 4th House Moon natally.
So this is at first glance a picture of contradictions – the Moon weak by sign but strong by House. My take on this is that Jupiter is bringing her the extra space, and that Jupiter luck (which often shows as the 11th hour variety) has definitely been part of this story, but it’s going to be a lot of work to renovate. My worst fear is damp and black mould. But ultimately Pluto is the transformative processes so property renovation in this context would definitely fit this current symbolism.
What is a NATURAL HOUSE PLANET and do you have one in your own horoscope?
If a planet is in its “own” house, that is, where it belongs in the natural astrological sequence of signs and planets, then it is said to be strengthened by being in its Natural House. For example, the Moon rules the sign of Cancer, Cancer is the 4th sign of the zodiac and therefore is the sign naturally aligned to the 4th House. The Moon posited in the 4th House, regardless of sign, is a Natural House Moon. Here’s the full list –
- Sun in the 5th
- Moon in the 2nd
- Mercury in the 3rd or 6th
- Venus in the 2nd or 7th
- Mars in the 1st or 8th
- Jupiter in the 9th or 12th
- Saturn in the 10th or 11th
- Uranus in the 11th
- Neptune in the 12th
- Pluto in the 8th
Planets can also be strengthened by something called Accidental Dignity. The list above correlates to the signs of dignity (eg Sun naturally rules 5th sign of Leo, Venus rules 2nd sign of Taurus and 7th sign of Libra, etc) but the first seven planets also have their signs of “exaltation”, where the qualities of the planet and the sign are said to be the best possible combination.
For example, the Sun is exalted in Aries, 1st sign of the zodiac. So a 1st House Sun, regardless of sign, is said to be in Accidental Dignity. This is the only dignity in my own chart as I have Sun in Sagittarius, but in the 1st House. Here’s the full list –
- Sun in the 1st
- Moon in the 2nd
- Mercury in the 6th
- Venus in the 12th
- Mars in the 10th
- Jupiter in the 4th
- Saturn in the 7th
THE TAURUS TIME OF YEAR – WITH A TWIST …
Mercury and the Sun both enter Taurus today, Venus arrived in this sign in the middle of last week and slow moving Uranus is in the middle of his long journey through this sign (15 May 2018 – 26 April 2026).
This means that these three faster moving personal planets will all meet up with Uranus within a 7 day period (Mercury and Venus this week, the Sun next week) and here’s the first part of this picture –
Monday 19 April
- Mercury ingress Taurus 11.30
- Sun ingress Taurus 21.35
Friday 23 April
- Venus conjunct Uranus 10 Taurus 02.02
- Mars ingress Cancer 12.50
Saturday 24 April
- Mercury conjunct Uranus 10 Taurus 07.43
For this week’s quotes at the top of the blog I wanted a Taurean, and I’d also been thinking about the book The Surrender Experiment, which I read a couple of years ago and it made a big impression on me. I had a hunch, checked his birthday and sure enough – the author Michael A Singer has both Sun and Mercury in Taurus.
The book is his own story, how a spiritual awakening triggered the decision to live alone in the middle of the woods, let go of himself, and embrace a life of solitude. He decided to let go of his personal preferences and simply let life call the shots. This ironically led to the creation of a massively lucrative business. Taurus, the sign of Fixed Earth, is about our relationship with the material – everything from nature to money – so again, how this author is described by his Sun sign, is what we would call textbook astrology.
Other textbook Taurus qualities are a love of routine and familiarity, longevity, patience, steadiness and stoicism (look at the Queen), perseverance, a dislike of being pushed, intense dislike of being goaded, being risk averse, low on drama, weight/food issues, droll humour (Victoria Wood).
Now throw Uranus into the mix and we immediately see a mismatch –
Uranus co-ruler of Aquarius is the planet of rebellion, anarchy, social advancement, ecology and technology. Both Bill Gates and the late Steve Jobs have strong Uranus/Aquarius features in their horoscopes. In mythology Uranus is the sky god and he rules all that comes “out of the blue”. He challenges all that the preceding planet Saturn stands for, such as hierarchy and traditional rules, and his nature is innovative, explosive, sudden, unexpected, erratic or unpredictable.
So Taurus favours safety, routine and predictability. Uranus, as I am so fond of saying, is the astrologer’s nightmare as he is simply unpredictable. He’s the rug puller, the unusual as opposed to the norm, the thing you couldn’t possibly have seen coming. On the plus side Uranus can also be surprises of the exciting kind, and can be brilliant for your social life and meeting new people unexpectedly, but you just never know which way he’s going to swing. We’re living through times where nothing is set in stone but bear in mind that this theme is likely to be especially obvious this week.
THE BIGGER PICTURE & SATURN
Along with the three-legged minor aspect of Jupiter and Pluto the other and more important backdrop to the year is the three-legged square between Saturn and Uranus. This major aspect was exact for the first time on 17 February and will repeat 14 June and 24 December. So far this has shown in scenes of huge civil unrest for political reasons in various countries and the worldwide struggles to contain the spread of Covid and the restrictions being imposed (Saturn) upon the collective (Uranus).
Saturn and Uranus are currently three degrees apart, a very short gap for the personal planets to cover, so Mercury and Venus both end the week by squaring up to Saturn, and the Sun will do the same in two weeks time –
Sunday 25 April
- Venus 13 Taurus square Saturn 13 Aquarius 05.23
- Mercury 13 Taurus square Saturn 13 Aquarius 12.59
- Mercury conjunct Venus 14 Taurus 23.20
Any planet squaring up to Saturn is not easy, think roadblocks, delays, frustrations or sadness with the things that can’t be changed. The sequence of aspects this week playing into the Saturn – Uranus square suggest a lot of change in the air not just for day to day things but also for how life continues to change in fundamental ways with far reaching consequences.
But this is why I chose the quote from The Surrender Experiment. Michael Singer has a lot to say about how we can fight against life if we want to but that this doesn’t get us anywhere. His whole thesis spins around acceptance and engaging fully with whatever life chucks at us, whether we like what is happening or not. This is for most of us a lot easier to say than it is to do but I’ll leave you with some more of his thought provoking quotes for you to ponder –
- “You gain nothing by being bothered by life’s events. It doesn’t change the world; you just suffer. There’s always going to be something that can bother you, if you let it.”
- “Billions of things are going on in this world. You can think about it all you want, but life is still going to keep on happening.”
- “I just kept letting go and practicing nonresistance, whether I liked what was happening or not.”
- “Acceptance means events can make it through you without resistance.”
Until next week, with love from Greece
Joanna