The Astrology Blog – w/b 11 August 2014
All times stated are in BST.
Firstly some feedback – last week I wrote with regard to the Mars – Neptune trine:
a wonderful omen for giving Paul the best possible send off – Neptune is grief, but he also rules the oceans, alcohol and Neptune/Pisces often feature strongly in the horoscopes of those who are musically or artistically talented – and we are holding the wake at our house with a view of the sea, live music and lots of wine!
Often the current aspects are doubly powerful when they are reflecting the same activity in your chart. On the day of Paul’s funeral transiting Mars was exactly conjunct my natal Neptune, so it was double whammy. The wake was the most emotional and beautiful tribute to Paul’s life, and there were a lot of tears but also a lot of laughter as everyone came together and shared their stories and memories. It was an occasion I will never forget.
I also wrote about the Mercury quinqunx Pluto:
This aspect happens when two planets are five signs apart, in this case Mercury at 11 degrees of Leo and Pluto at 11 degrees of Capricorn. Although the aspect is listed as “minor” I have found that it can still throw a pretty major spoke in the wheel. This particular combination feels a little like a retrograde Mercury so don’t be caught out. Keep your confidences for those whose trust is beyond doubt, allow extra time for travelling, back up your computer work (Pluto loves black holes!) and keep a close watch on all personal belongings.
Again, these aspects are more pertinent if you have natal planets at 11 degrees, or one degree either side. One reader who has natal Mars at 12 degrees had the nightmare experience of having her business email hacked. They wiped out her entire contacts list that had taken 20 years to build. Fortunately she was able to retrieve most of them from other mail, but she has lost incoming new mail completely. It’s a reminder to all of us never to keep important info in one place only – always back up somehow, somewhere!
Don’t forget that you can find out the sign and degree of your natal planets in a matter of minutes on this link:
http://www.alwaysastrology.com/birth-chart-calculator.html
What’s happening this week? The love planet Venus is on the move, leaving Cancer and heading into Leo, the ingress being exact tomorrow, Tuesday at 08.25. Her first aspect will be a quinqunx to Neptune on Sunday (16.09) and by now of course the evidence for this being an awkward contact is clear. With Neptune the “blind side” action can be anything from confusion to illusion, and for love issues the general feel is super sensitive. Top advice is to say or do nothing under the influence! Venus rules money too so watch your cash/rip off prices.
The much better news is that Venus’ next aspect will be a conjunction with Jupiter – exact next Monday morning at 06.22 – so this will be an applying (yet to happen) aspect over the coming weekend. These two planets are known as the Benefics – in essence Venus being love and pleasure, Jupiter being luck and good fortune – and whenever they get together the message is cheerful, positive and optimistic. I’ve noticed many times in my life how lovely things/work opportunities happen on Venus – Jupiter contacts.
As Venus is heading to quinqunx Neptune and then immediately conjunct Jupiter this means that Jupiter and Neptune themselves are also making the quinqunx aspect – exact on Friday at 05.15. These two planets between them rule the sign of Pisces, so look out for the Pisceans in your life, and also for the flipside to the Piscean nature that may show in individuals or in a sensitive situation. On a good day the Piscean positive qualities are compassion, insightfulness and finely tuned instincts. On a bad day these turn into hypersensitivity, paranoia or “inflation” – whereby a seemingly small detail can grow terrifying arms and legs! This off beam aspect between Jupiter and Neptune signals a very high risk of strange behavior, awkward events – or on a bigger scale, suffering of the human spirit.
Friday also brings Mars sextile (harmonious) Pluto at 10.26. This is a powerful aspect as Mars is currently travelling through Pluto’s sign of Scorpio and Pluto in turn is travelling through Capricorn which is Mars’ sign of exaltation. This is what is called a “mixed reception” – the two planets working together as a team and in sympathy with each other’s causes. Nevertheless they are both “malefic” so they signal the possibility of tough stuff – difficult tasks or decisions, something reaching a natural end, one door closing before another opens – and so on.
Mercury is also on the move. He’s back up to full speed now (having turned direct at the beginning of July after a retrograde period) and enters his own sign of Virgo, Friday at 17.45. He’ll whizz through Virgo between now and 2 September which is brilliant for any work related to Mercury’s domain – primarily communication or writing of any kind. Mercury is the “mind” planet and he thrives in Virgo land, sign of analysis, precision and thoroughness. This is perfect for me as I have the new astrology book to finish by the end of the month so this week it’s eyes down! Mercury travelling through Virgo is also good for health stuff, especially a quick detox or finding expert information answers.
So it’s a mixed bag of a week but with both Venus and then Mercury changing sign the general message is new cycles and life moving on. Wishing you a cheerful and productive week.