The Astrology Blog 11 July 2022
All times in BST
“I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”
Mahatma Gandhi
https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Mahatma_Gandhi
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it Fate.”
Carl Jung
https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Carl_Jung
If you’d like to receive the weekly blog straight to inbox on Mondays, it’s free, so either send an email address to me to be added to the mailing list or anyone can sign up from the website. Here’s the link for the sign up box –
MARS IN TAURUS – the story so far …
A reminder of the key astrology from last week –
Tuesday 5 July
- Mars ingress Taurus 07.05
- Mercury ingress Cancer 07.26
- Mercury 0 Cancer sextile Mars 0 Taurus 07.38
I wrote last week that this astrology would carry a transitional theme as two planets move from 29 degrees of one sign to 0 degrees of the next, which are known as “critical degrees” because of the ending of one cycle and the beginning of another. This theme is emphasized with two planets changing sign not only on the same day but virtually at the same time, less than half an hour apart.
The week before, with Wimbledon starting under the Mars – Pluto square, I wrote that I was expecting a big injury story in the tournament, Mars being god of war, symbolizing all the cuts and thrusts of battles and wounds.
These concerns have shown and the natal horoscopes have planets right in the line of fire –
-
Boris Johnson – https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Boris_Johnson
BoJo has his natal Moon at 0.36 Scorpio in the 1st House, where we locate the self. So Mars’s arrival in Taurus, the peaceable until provoked combination, meant that Mars was transiting directly opposite Johnson’s Moon, coinciding exactly with the resignation of key cabinet members whose reasons for quitting boiled down to “enough is enough”. Mercury’s (communication, the Winged Messenger) transition and involvement showed in the highly publicised damning letters and speeches of resignation.
Johnson, finally, had no option but to resign. Mars’s painful qualities are especially pronounced when combined with the Moon as these two planets are of opposing principles, clearly shown by the fact that where one is strong (dignified or exalted) the other is in trouble (in detriment or fall) –
- Moon “dignified” in Cancer – Mars in “fall” in Cancer
- Moon “exalted” in Taurus – Mars in “detriment” in Taurus
- Mars “exalted” in Capricorn – Moon in “fall” in Capricorn
The debacle rages on as strictly speaking Johnson should stay on as PM until a new Tory leader is elected, but that could take a while, something that many are not happy with. But given that Mars is travelling through Taurus until 20 August I wonder if that’s going to be a key date for the next transition.
I’ve been touching on the unravelling of this story on and off this year. At the end of May I wrote about Johnson already being in serious trouble and that his astrology has indicated June as a crucial time, but he hung on. However early June brought the confidence vote, which he technically won but which was the writing on the wall –
The first rule of politics: learn how to count. Mathematically, Boris Johnson was the winner in Monday’s confidence vote.
The second rule of politics: numbers often only tell so much of the story. You can claim victory and be robbed of authority in the same moment.
Boris Johnson can point to his own thumping majority from the last election. But the simple truth is when more than four in ten of your own MPs think the country would be better off without you, you have a problem.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-61709441
In his key transits I included the retrograde Mercury going back and forth over his natal Mars, but didn’t include the Mars transit opposite his Moon so have added it here.
Here’s the full sequence –
- Mercury over natal Mars 1st time 1 May
- Mercury retrograde over natal Mars 2nd time 20 May
- Uranus over natal Jupiter 1st time 21 May – (the “Partygate” Sue Gray Report was published in full on the UK government website 25 May)
- Mercury turns direct 3 June
- Mercury over natal Mars 3rd and final time 15 June
- Mars ingress Taurus and opposite natal Moon 5/6 July
- Uranus turns retrograde 24 August
- Uranus over natal Jupiter 2nd time 9 Dec
- Uranus turns direct again 22 Jan 2023
- Uranus over natal Jupiter 3rd and final time 7 March 2023
Uranus, whilst erratic by orbit and by nature, is often extremely “date sensitive” and you can check this in your own horoscope or others. Given that Uranus has an 84 year cycle, and started transiting Johnson’s Jupiter just 4 days before the Sue Gray report findings were published, this is what you can call exact timing. In other words, 4 days out of 84 years is nothing!
Always keep an eye on the middle of three contacts too. Boris Johnson has the second of three Uranus transits in December so by the end of the year the full extent of his career being flipped upside down should be obvious.
-
Rafael Nadal – https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Rafael_Nadal
Nadal has his natal Moon at 0.17 Taurus in the 6th House, where we locate both health and skills. His Moon is also conjunct the North Node at 29 Aries, so both critical degrees are present.
As Mars crossed over his exalted Moon Nadal was wounded in his quarter final match, on Wed 6 July, sustaining what a scan later revealed to be a 7mm tear in an abdominal (Cancer rules the stomach) muscle. At the time he’d played on with the help of strong painkillers but afterwards it was clear that the injury was too serious and restrictive, and he was tragically forced to admit that he would be unfit for further play.
This meant no semi final, which gave his opponent for that match Nick Kyrgios the gift of a walkover into the final with Djokovic. The astrology for that for Kyrgios was Jupiter (luck, opportunity) now at 8 Aries stationing (almost at a standstill, getting ready to turn retrograde end of the month) conjunct his Venus at approximately 6 Aries, who in turn is conjunct his Moon (no known time of birth which is needed to pinpoint the fast moving Moon, so anywhere between 0 and 12 Aries).
But the astrology for Djokovic was the same, with his Moon at 5 Aries. The final could’ve gone either way. In his winning speech Djokovic praised Kyrgios, told him he admired him, that he couldn’t believe that he was saying so many nice things about him but that it was now officially a “bromance”. Such is the lovely synastry of one person’s Moon conjunct the other person’s Venus.
Kyrgios is known for his explosive but highly entertaining character. The general feeling amongst the commentators during and after the match is that he lost it because of his mental state. The consensus seemed to be that if he spent less time getting so angry and worked up, and more time staying in control of his game and his attitude, he could’ve won.
Djokovic demonstrated this point. In his semi final, having lost the first 2 sets, he took a break and gave himself a pep talk in the mirror. Afterwards he said something along the lines of, “I know that when I change things at an internal level that this then shows and works at an external level.”
In other words, our thoughts create our reality, whether it’s winning a tennis match or creating any other goal/desire/wish etc in our lives. Everything starts with a thought, and everything will be coloured by how we think. Being scrupulously honest with ourselves is a crucial factor so check your agendas, abandon any victim behaviour and be quick to spot that in others. Hence the choice of quote this week from Jung.
Note that Jupiter also rules the law and Kyrgios is up in court in August for an alleged assault last December on his ex girlfriend. This was announced on Tuesday, the day of the Mars ingress. Obviously any kind of domestic violence is 100% unacceptable and we have no way of knowing yet if this allegation is true or not, but you can’t help but wonder at the timing of the accusation, designed to hit him at his most crucial time? Mars in Taurus can be a brutal bulldozer. I wouldn’t mind betting that he’s early Scorpio rising (Ascendant) – ruled by Mars – which would put the early degrees of Taurus on the Descendant.
The Queen isn’t publicly in the news right now for anything specific but there will be things going on behind the palace doors. Her Sun is at 0.12 Taurus and this week’s Full Moon at 21.21 Capricorn is exactly conjunct her Ascendant (where we locate the self, including the physical body) at 21.26 Capricorn. This may suggest further problems or pain with her mobility issues.
But a combination of a transit and a lunation often pinpoint sensitive times. And back to the point about Uranus being especially time sensitive, worth remembering that when Uranus went over her Sun it was on the day that Harry and Meghan got married. At the time it showed as a thoroughly modern day marriage, even alternative, but the seeds of revolution were being sown.
MARS – ANGER, WAR, PROTESTS & GUNMEN
I have to say that I never expected the Mars ingress into Taurus to be quite so dramatic or tragic, but it’s been so obvious, both in the world news and in the lives of those around me. Mars in the sign of the peaceable until provoked Bull is showing as frayed tempers all over the place. One of the most easy going people I know found that she crossed a line a few days ago with the totally unreasonable behaviour and blaming culture going on at work and she finally lost her temper, finishing with “I quit”.
As it turned out this was the right thing to do, the tables were instantly turned as her resignation would’ve left them in deep trouble. This was a reminder to me that anger has its place, when we need to remind someone that we’re not their doormat or punch bag, when we need to equalise the power. This story is one of appropriate anger, how it was used to good effect. Ruffled egos found a middle ground.
Mars in Taurus doesn’t feature in this week’s celestial activity but is nevertheless the backdrop, so stay aware of your approach to anything in the anger department, and own your own anger when needed. Psychotherapy teaches us that if one person is allowed to be angry (or anything else) all the time and remain unchallenged then “that role is taken”, which can become dysfunctional, intimidating, disempowering and so on for everyone involved.
At a world level here’s an excerpt from a brilliant feature on Mars in Taurus by Ingrid Hoffman, posted on my Facebook The World of Astrology group page three days ago, which captures the Mars symbolism –
This ancient deity of battle, who unlike the invisible sky gods, was embodied and fought on the earth plane, carries our personal and collective fighting instinct, and in Taurus Mars takes on a certain fixity and dogged determination. We all have Mars (in different signs, fighting different battles) in our birth chart, an energy that expresses itself as assertion or desire, or becomes pathologized as depression.
In our culture, Mars is expressed in the competition of sport, the violence of computer gaming, the carnage and cruelty of war, the impotence of mass shootings. As Mars tipped from Aries into Taurus on the 4th of July, a gunman opened fire in Chicago. Mass shootings account for just a fraction of the daily toll of firearm deaths in the US, where about 124 people die every day in other acts of gun violence, according to research by the Marshall Project.
This week, in Copenhagen, a gunman killed three people in a shopping centre. Something much deeper is at work as the unresolved collective issue with Mars affects us all.
In the three days since Ingrid posted this feature we know that Shinzo Abe the former prime minister of Japan has been assassinated by a lone crazy gunman, and yesterday at least fifteen young people between the ages of 19 and 35 were gunned down in an apparently motiveless attack in a bar in South Africa.
In bankrupt Sri Lanka president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has gone into hiding. He’s been blamed for the country’s economic mismanagement, which has caused dire shortages of food, fuel and medicine for months. Tens of thousands of protestors have stormed the official residences of the president and the prime minister, saying they refuse to leave until resignations are confirmed.
In America the inevitable uprising against the new abortion laws has started with the first publicized marches of protest. In Ukraine the war machine rolls on. We have to keep our own footholds when the world around us is so crazy.
WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING THIS WEEK?
So it’s a busy week, with the first major aspect exact in the early hours of Wednesday, followed by major aspects on every other day of the week. Here’s the “at a glance” list –
Wednesday 13 July
- Venus 24 Gemini trine Saturn 24 Aquarius 05.29
- Full Moon 21 Capricorn 19.39
Thursday 14 July
- Mercury 18 Cancer sextile Uranus 18 Taurus 01.18
- Venus 25 Gemini square Neptune 25 Pisces 06.26
Friday 15 July
- Venus 27 Gemini quinqunx Pluto 27 Capricorn 23.50
Saturday 16 July
- Sun 23 Cancer quinqunx Saturn 23 Aquarius 12.36
- Mercury 23 Cancer quinqunx Saturn 23 Aquarius 16.56
- Sun conjunct Mercury 24 Cancer 20.39
Sunday 17 July
- Mercury 25 Cancer trine Neptune 25 Pisces 08.54
- Sun 25 Cancer trine Neptune 25 Pisces 23.57
Monday 18 July
- Venus ingress Cancer 02.33
- Mercury 27 Cancer opposite Pluto 27 Capricorn 08.00
VENUS & THE FULL MOON
Starting with the love and money planet Venus is on her home stretch through Gemini, and we can see immediately that she’s playing into the Saturn – Neptune combo (they’re travelling on parallel tracks at the moment one sign apart). Venus’ final aspect is a minor one to Pluto but it’s that awkward “blind spot” quinqunx, and will then be the next planet to transit the “critical degrees” over the weekend, going from 29 degrees of Gemini and arriving at 0 degrees of Cancer in the early hours of next Monday morning –
Wednesday 13 July
- Venus 24 Gemini trine Saturn 24 Aquarius 05.29
- Full Moon 21 Capricorn 19.39
Thursday 14 July
- Venus 25 Gemini square Neptune 25 Pisces 06.26
Friday 15 July
- Venus 27 Gemini quinqunx Pluto 27 Capricorn 23.50
Monday 18 July
- Venus ingress Cancer 02.33
My overall feeling for this picture is that it isn’t easy, especially as the aspects to Saturn and Neptune are wrapped around the Full Moon in Capricorn, one of Saturn’s signs and in turn the Moon’s sign of detriment. Any Venus – Saturn combinations (or Moon – Saturn, ie the other feminine planet) tend to be hard going for our emotional lives.
If you have relationship/family or property issues to resolve then be willing to put in the work and effort, even if it’s only to arrive at that agreeing to disagree point. The quinqunx aspect in particular, two planets 5 signs apart and therefore absolutely nothing in common, is notorious for “ne’er the twain shall meet”. Save your breath. Monday will bring a fresh start.
This is also a picture of big love decisions in terms of affairs and choices, while Venus finishes her journey through the sign of the Twins, which so often brings themes of duality. This can show in money terms too such as juggling two jobs or picking up too many bills for other people. Decide where your heart lies, decide where your responsibilities lie – and where they end.
THE SUN & MERCURY
The other thread running through the weave is being pulled by the Sun and Mercury. Again, both are playing into the Saturn – Neptune, with those aspects falling either side of the Sun – Mercury conjunction, which is arguably the most important aspect of the week –
Thursday 14 July
- Mercury 18 Cancer sextile Uranus 18 Taurus 01.18
Saturday 16 July
- Sun 23 Cancer quinqunx Saturn 23 Aquarius 12.36
- Mercury 23 Cancer quinqunx Saturn 23 Aquarius 16.56
- Sun conjunct Mercury 24 Cancer 20.39
Sunday 17 July
- Mercury 25 Cancer trine Neptune 25 Pisces 08.54
- Sun 25 Cancer trine Neptune 25 Pisces 23.57
Monday 18 July
- Mercury 27 Cancer opposite Pluto 27 Capricorn 08.00
This thread is also something of a “slugging it out” verbally, and it’s a textbook picture for the political situation in the UK, 11 candidates now campaigning to say why they should be the next leader of the Tory party and next Prime Minister. Promises, promises. Hopefully the Full Moon in Capricorn – sign that belongs to the 10th House of those who authority over us – will bring the right kind of revelations.
In our personal lives I definitely think that this is a time for remembering that you can’t please everyone all of the time! Hold your own counsel and avoid gathering opinions. Information overwhelm is to be avoided.
Instead focus on the Sun – Mercury conjunction. This happens 6 times a year, 3 times when Mercury is moving direct like now (the superior conjunction) and 3 times when Mercury is retrograde (the inferior conjunction). As these alternate the last one was 21 May when Mercury was retrograde and the next one will be 23 September when Mercury will also be retrograde.
Any planet, not just Mercury, conjunct the Sun to within 17 minutes of arc (ie just over a quarter of a degree) is said to be “cazimi” – defined as being in “the heart of the Sun”. The symbolism of this is about the other planet drawing strength from that heat instead of being burned up by it. It’s a window of opportunity, the stuff of light bulb moments, vital information or having the chance to get your point across exactly in the right way and at the right time. In that hot spot is a golden nugget of truth or a lifeline of help.
- The Mercury cazimi period lasts approximately for 8 hours, about four hours either side of the exact conjunction
- This cazimi will therefore be from approx 4.30pm on Saturday through to just after midnight on Sunday in the UK. Adjust to your own time zone – eg Greece 6.30pm on Saturday through to 2.30am on Sunday
- Look out for that Mercury moment, especially things that shine a light into your understanding, help you to make a decision, negotiate a deal or find the right words to get an important conversation started. Information that surfaces on the cazimi is often invaluable and can make a real difference
Big Mercury (communication, the media) issues out in the world are also likely to feature strongly so look out for more on the Elon Musk and Twitter story. This was in the news the week beginning 16 May (and therefore coinciding with the last Sun – Mercury conjunction) with textbook “retrograde” news emerging, ie the deal unraveling, trying to go back on a deal, not being able to get the right data etc.
https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Elon_Musk
Elon Musk tried to pull out as retrograde Mercury went forwards and backwards over his natal Saturn (big business but also blocks/barriers) at 1 degree Gemini (Mercury’s sign) three times. I wrote at the time that I thought this could all end up costing him dearly and it’s quite extraordinary that he didn’t do more homework.
So the cautionary tale for us this week is not to rush at things, cool those tempers, make careful plans, don’t try to change other people’s minds, keep boundaries in place and pay close attention to the information that surfaces for you, especially on the Full Moon (illumination) and then again on the Sun – Mercury. These are linked as they are only 3 degrees apart.
Until next week, with love from Greece
Joanna