The Astrology Blog 8 June 2020
All times in BST
“Be helpful. When you see a person without a smile, give them yours.”
“Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.”
Zig Ziglar – 6 November 1926, American author and motivational speaker
Checking Charts
If you want to see the sign and degree of the planets in your own or any other natal chart, to check against the signs and degrees important this week as outlined in the blog, here’s the link to Astrotheme. Enter your data into the boxes provided:
https://www.astrotheme.com/horoscope_chart_sign_ascendant.php
Venus continues her retrograde journey in Gemini and I’ve said a couple of times that this was going to be a bit like having a retrograde Mercury (rules Gemini), only this time with love, social life and money issues at the top of the list. Social distancing is an obvious “take” on this “holding back” Venus and it’s definitely a tricky thing to do once venues start opening up again, as they’re doing here in Greece. There’s a mixture of people behaving as if the rules don’t apply to us, because the island is thus far virus free, and those who are freaked out by it. My own feeling is that all of the retrograde cycles going on, and Mercury’s next one looming, are reminders that this is a long way from being over. Keep your boundaries in place.
Gemini belongs to the 3rd House of communication and local transport. In terms of day to day life my own retrograde/Gemini stories are that my landline is still dead after a thunderstorm two weeks ago and I can’t get through to the phone company to book an engineer. And then last week I received my new car insurance policy with a receipt, which was a mystery as I hadn’t paid it. I went into my Greek bank account, no payment taken, and then found that my UK account was blocked. Great. I put two and two together, assuming that the company had helped themselves to the money, and that was why it was locked. I tackled the company and they said they’d automatically renewed the policy with the card details I’d given them last year. I said, “I’m sure that’s illegal, especially as last year I paid you cash … and you now have an even bigger problem because the card number you’ve quoted isn’t even mine!”
So someone else had been charged for my policy – they have since been refunded – and it turned out that I’d put two and two together and made five as my UK account wasn’t blocked, the website was down. Panic over. But it was a lesson in mixups and assumptions – so just bear in mind that for now and the next couple of weeks there are going to be things that still don’t add up!
AFTER THE ECLIPSE
We are now slowly emerging from the shadows of the Lunar Eclipse at 15 degrees Sagittarius on Friday evening and taking stock of new pictures and landscapes. Universally the showing has been unmistakable as this sign rules the higher mind, truth, human rights and freedom of expression, and all things overseas. Within hours of the Eclipse, that fell square Mars (anger/action) the international outcry for George Floyd peaked in the shape of mass protests against racism and police brutality. These demonstrations took place not only throughout the US but many other countries too, including the UK, Australia, France, Germany and Spain.
An iconic moment in the UK was anti racism protesters removing the statue in Bristol of Edward Colston. He made his fortune through human suffering in the slave trade but then bequeathed all his money to charity for the city. Bristol has somehow managed to think that made it okay to have his statue on show, until the protesting public decided otherwise. They dragged the statue through the streets, knelt on its neck and threw it in the harbor. The toppling not only of a statue, but also of any tolerance of the things he stood for.
As I was saying last week Eclipses throw shadows, they’re often linked to secrets, power struggles and the rise or fall of individuals – or their statues!
Again within hours of the Eclipse there was reporting of the big cover up job in Brazil –
On Saturday, the health ministry removed from its official website the Covid-19 data it had been documenting over time and by state and municipality… Mr Bolsonaro has played down the risks of the virus, having initially compared it to “a little flu”. Two health ministers have left the post since the outbreak began in disagreement with the president’s response.
This only serves to draw more, not less, attention to Bolsonaro’s desperate denial of the truth, to the severity of the virus itself and the toll on his country. His horoscope is alarming to put it mildly. It’s not within the scope of this blog to give full interpretations but if you’re a serious student of astrology note the rigidity of his Fixed Grand Cross and his Sun at 0 Aries, which would usually be a fantastic degree for leadership (first degree of the zodiac and the Sun’s sign of exaltation) but which stands alone, being unaspected by any other planets, but squares the Moon’s Nodes at 1 degree Capricorn/Cancer.
It’s a rather chilling picture of ruthless egoism. The next Eclipse in two weeks time will hit this pattern, being the Solar one at 0 degrees of Cancer, just four days before Venus turns direct – who turned retrograde at 22 Gemini conjunct his Fortuna in the 11th House of the collective.
https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Jair_Bolsonaro
Until this pandemic I had never fully appreciated the vital importance of leadership. Brazil is known for its widespread problems with police brutality and corruption anyway, but no thuggery in the world can stop a virus. This leader’s astrology suggests a humanitarian catastrophe in the making, a situation already out of control.
Eclipse symbolism often relates to matters that have previously been obscured, even for years, and tragically Maddie McCann was in the news this past weekend too. Her father Gerry McCann has his Sun at 15 Gemini, exactly opposite the Lunar Eclipse degree, so this time the information may finally be correct and I pray that it is so that that poor family gets some closure.
WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING THIS WEEK?
For many of us events now unfolding will also carry themes of something out of control or something inevitable. This could be for good or bad, the main point being that the shadows are lifting, showing us what we’re really dealing with, including where we’ve been in denial or information that has previously been withheld or simply not known or available.
Unfortunately this doesn’t necessarily add up to total clarity or a straightforward path ahead. Not only is Venus still retrograde but the other dominant planet this week is nebulous Neptune. Here’s a reminder of this planet’s dreams and themes, arguably stronger these days as Neptune makes the rare journey (once every 165 years) through his own sign –
Neptune – main principle is Redemption. He rules our night world of sleep and dreams, and any altered state of consciousness. Psychologically his realm is fusion, the boundless watery world of the emotions, ruling the fuzzy world of falling in love right through to the suffering of loss, grief or personal sacrifice. On the plus side the Neptunian world or nature is magical, healing, boundlessly imaginative, empathic, subtle and seductive. The trickier side is addictive, mysterious, confusing or disorientating. Neptune also rules drugs, alcohol and pharmaceuticals.
Neptune is god of the seas so this planet is also linked to all things marine, and psychologically to sea mists, feeling all at sea, blurry pictures and the emotional and spiritual experience of sea changes.
Sea change is an English idiomatic expression which denotes a substantial change in perspective, especially one which affects a group or society at large, on a particular issue. (Wikipedia)
This week Neptune is involved in the two major aspects of the week, either side of a minor aspect between Venus and Uranus –
Thursday 11 June
- Sun 21 Gemini square Neptune 21 Pisces 10.39
- Venus 9 Gemini semi-sextile Uranus 10.52
Saturday 13 June
- Mars conjunct Neptune 21 Pisces 15.15
Of the two Neptune aspects the latter is the more important as the Sun squares up to Neptune twice a year (in between a conjunction and an opposition) whereas the Mars/Neptune conjunction happens only once every 2 years, but neither are the easiest of combinations.
Mars likes purpose and projects, as shown by being “exalted” in earthy and goal orientated Capricorn, sign of the surefooted Mountain Goat picking his way to the summit. But Mars has been sloshing around in Pisces since 13 May (the same day that Venus turned retrograde) and won’t arrive in his own sign of Aries until 28 June (three days after Venus turns direct again). Mars will then spend the rest of the year in Aries, ie instead of the usual 6 to 8 weeks, but that’s another story.
For now one of the biggest problems encountered by many is the lack of energy, purpose and motivation. Nothing takes shape easily in Pisces, sign of mutable water, co-ruled by Neptune god of the boundless oceans. Water takes the shape only of the vessel it’s in. Tiredness isn’t always down to physical causes. There is nothing more exhausting than no routine, no stimulus, no reason for getting up in the morning, constant anxiety or self criticism for being unproductive, watching the days slip by and feeling guilty for doing nothing about it.
If this is you, you’re not alone. I count myself extremely fortunate that I’ve always worked from home anyway, in this respect life is no different for me, but I’m surrounded by those who have no work to kick start them again and who’ve lost their sense of time, often not even knowing what day of the week it is! Or those trying to be teacher as well as parent, battling on with home schooling and feeling like a failure.
So be kind to yourself. Don’t beat yourself up. This too shall pass and for now doing your best, whatever that amounts to, is good enough. If I have a day where I feel that I’ve under achieved I list everything that I’ve actually done – no matter how insignificant the things might be, this always makes me feel better!
THE LOVE STORY
Venus and Mars are the love planets and they’re still struggling in their own ways. They’re also kind of awkward travel companions at the moment, on their own journeys but keeping each other in sight. If you’re in any kind of challenging relationship or love situation this picture may well describe how your love life feels right now, or for some it will describe the geographical obstacles in the way, and the attendant longings and yearnings.
Venus’ link to whacky Uranus, at almost exactly the same time as the first Neptune aspect, also reflects how the two could be linked. On the whole this feels positive because one of Uranus’ jobs is to explode boundaries, so he’s brilliant at demolishing obstacles or objections. Challenging Neptune aspects are notorious for the distortion of truth or escalating feelings that often have more basis in our imaginations than they do in reality. Feelings of hopelessness or intense loneliness can be overwhelming but Uranus is the shake up and the wakeup call, often in the shape of something unexpected. If you feel as if you’re on an emotional hamster wheel then the end of this week holds promise for breakthrough moments.
Give some shape to your feelings. If you can’t talk about them, then write them down in black and white. Try to be objective (Uranus) rather than purely reactive and “all at sea” (Neptune) and look at the facts of any matter that’s keeping you awake at nights. Knowing what is true for you can be a very powerful thing. And at a universal level the other truth is that this too shall change, nothing lasts forever, and nothing closes down our options faster than a negative mindset. In this Neptunian week we’ll all be more receptive to the tugs and pulls of the emotional tides but you don’t have to drown. Stay away from the doom and gloom people in your life, or be that positive lifeline for those who are floundering.
Until next week,
With love from Greece
Joanna
