Sun/Saturn Conjunction: Taking Responsibility for Yourself

Today the Sun and Saturn meet (the exact conjunction is 8:42 p.m. EDT). Because we are also coming up on the Last Quarter Moon in Cancer (11:52 p.m. EDT), there will also be a Moon/Saturn square (11:40 p.m.). The Last Quarter aspect itself relates strongly to the sign Capricorn, which is ruled by Saturn. All this by way of saying that there's a lot of Saturn energy out there today. Saturn can be a melancholy "heavy," and especially combined with the Moon in Cancer, a "wet blanket." The weather today, at least at my coordinates, is literally reflecting that: plenty of rain with the possibility of flooding. (The Moon also opposes Pluto in Capricorn at 2:54 p.m., which is a good time to avoid being drawn into any emotional or manipulative exchanges.)

How best to handle your inner weather? Saturn is all about time--especially slowing it down. If your day is dragging, take it as a blessing in disguise and use that extra time to ponder your relationships (since the Sun/Saturn conjunction occurs in Libra, the most relating-centric sign in the zodiac), your ambition, your goals. It is a good day to concentrate on structure of any kind, both inner and outer, such as hierarchies, architecture or bones (especially spine), outlines or timelines. It is a good day to work hard, but not so hard as to force an idea whose time has not come.

Fellow earth sign Virgo is the sign of discrimination, details, organization, and service, but Capricorn is more likely to want to run the company and be on top than to toil or tinker, unrecognized, on the finer details. Yet if you wind up being the lone goat on the mountaintop, you can easily become disconnected from others; it is very important to make an effort to connect and foster a sense of interdependency. Even if you are the most rugged, anti-team-player individualist on earth, you can't do it all (whatever "all" means to you) by yourself. Again, the fact that Sun and Saturn are in Libra, the relating sign, should help.

And if all this difficult yet necessary effort is getting you down, listen to Capricorn Janis Joplin's "Try Just a Little Bit Harder" (preferably the live version).

Love Letter from "Anonymous Follower"

I received this comment about my last post ("Ch-ch-changes," 9/23) over the weekend and thought I would share it:

I still like you a lot, but please do not bring politics into your witty, intelligent and knowledgeable Plutonian astrology..even as a fellow Plutonian I understand that you can not resist..I follow you and you are always spot on with all planet's directions... But please more astrology and no politics-it just doesn't make you look good...you have taken away from your overall allure with your unintentional tirade..why?
I know you can write whatever you want, but this has made me question my intention of contacting you and doing astrological consultation...I will still follow you but I am not sure if you would be sick of me -as a part of all the political things you are sick off... as we all are..

The piss-and-vinegar Plutonian in me cannot resist dissecting this left-handed love letter for all 21 "followers" of my astrology blog (plus an unknown number of casual or uncommitted readers) to enjoy. Maybe I'll wind up alienating some more of my small-but-select readership...that's how I'll truly know I'm on to something good! And since my secret admirer self-identifies as a Plutonian, I won't bother mincing words.

I may very well have gone on for too long about politics in my last post. However, it did not come from nowhere; it was within the context of the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction in Pisces. I first made observations on this major aspect's more positive manifestations, then had quite a bit to say about the negative--which focused on politics. Had I also included environmental issues, or expanded upon the potential for creative inspiration and genius, perhaps the post would've read in a more balanced way.

I believe that astrology blogs can include politics within the context of astrology, and this is what I set out to do, even if it went on too long because I am, in fact, tired and disgusted by the nonstop propaganda and flat-out lies, and I am very concerned about how the effects of the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction will reverberate and possibly affect other major aspects to come over the next few years.

I live in the real world, and cannot and do not want to astrologize in a vacuum. That would be doing everyone, including myself, a disservice. Everything, including Anonymous's comment and my response to it, is fair game in the context of various transits and aspects.

Anonymous's comment was sent to me on Saturday, the day of the Sun/Pluto square (indicating resentment, challenges to the ego, and power struggles). I did not see the comment till today, as I spent the weekend offline. The Moon is now in late Taurus, approaching a square to Neptune, so I'm more inclined to react to this red flag being waved in my direction (Taurus) and address this follower's, and my own, disappointment and confusion (Neptune) than to say "whatever" (which, despite my membership in the "X" generation, I try to avoid saying or thinking anyway).

If this one "tirade," as my anonymous commenter described it, has had the effect of dimming my "overall allure" and putting him or her off contacting me for an astrological consultation despite my "witty, intelligent, and knowledgeable Plutonian astrology," so be it...and so much the better. I wouldn't want to do astrological work for someone who would latch on to the one thing I've done on my blog that, in his or her opinion, "just doesn't make [me] look good" in over a year of "spot on" astrology posts.

It is, of course, Anonymous's right to express his or her opinion, just as I am free to opine that Anonymous is engaging in the kind of pedestal-toppling that results from rigid perfectionism (or perhaps from rigidly adhering to putting people into neatly defined categories).

As for the sign-off, "I will still follow you but I am not sure if you would be sick of me -as a part of all the political things you are sick off... as we all are...," huh? How exactly would Anonymous's continuing to follow me make me feel as ill as when I ponder political things (that apparently everyone is also sick of)? Does Anonymous think he or she is all that? Even though I've devoted an entire post to this comment, that does not mean Anonymous is even close of making my Major League Sick List.

At least, not yet.

"Ch-ch-ch-changes...turn and face the strange...."

I've been a bad Plutonian this month for not keeping my small-but-select readership abreast of all the astrological changes we've been going through...in part because Mercury was Retrograde till 9/12, which partly manifested though many difficulties with my new computer, and also because we've had so many changes that it's a formidable task to keep up with them, let alone offer up insights. Truly, it's as if we've entered another time zone, and perhaps another time--not the future, but the sort-of-recent past.

Have you been feeling unusually passionate, intense, sexy, emotional, moody, dreamy, and/or just plain thirsty? If so, you're in sync with our solar system's transits: Venus entered Scorpio on 9/8; Jupiter retrograded back into Pisces 9/9; Mars entered Scorpio 9/14. Add Uranus, which retrograded back into Pisces in mid-August, and we have four out of ten planets in the water element.

The Jupiter/Uranus conjunction at 28 degrees of Pisces ideally triggered inspiring visions, unusual and idealistic plans, and creative pursuits, especially involving film, music, dance, and writing. However, Uranus is entirely capable of rebelling against rational behavior, and Jupiter is all about exapansion. Combine these two planets in Pisces, there is unusually high danger of emotions distorting facts.

Specifically, this month we have seen more crackpot manifestos issuing from the Tea Party, the ascendancy of a Republicon (yes, I know how "Republican" is spelled, but poor Abe Lincoln has been turning over in his grave enough since the Nixon administration, so I'm spelling it with a "con" to denote both conservatism and con job or con artist) who opposes abortion even in the case of rape, and considers masturbation adultery. (And if you're not married...? I guess that means you're having pre-marital sex with yourself, and we all know how evil sex outside marriage is.) Oh yes, and the Republicons have just promised the American people a repeat of the mess that contributed largely to the recession that we are supposed to believe is over, as well as a promise to take away whatever good has come from the health care reform.

Astrologically, amnesia can be attributed to Pisces; it seems to be brought on by a blow, trauma, or shock (Uranus). I sometimes refer to the country in which I live as the Untied States of Amnesia; I am not joking, because this is no joke.

As a Plutonian, I understand all about the effectiveness of propaganda, a fancy term for having one's brain washed in bullshit. This is partly why people will vote time and time again for Republicons, who most assuredly do not have the poor and middle-class citizens' interests at what passes for their collective heart. Never mind the facts: Repubicons want for voters to be confused, poorly educated, and unhealthy, and an effective way to keep them that way is to feed them nothing but red herrings. Facts would hang the Grand Old Party out to dry.

Not that I think the Democrats are so groovy--they're in the back pocket of Wall Street, corporations, and various interest groups that are mainly self-interested opportunists, and I think the health-care reform leaves much to be desired. But politicians basically hang out with rich people, many of whom balk at the very idea of giving up a few percentage points of their vast millions and billions. Never mind that during the Eisenhower administration, the super-rich did just that and then some, and the result benefited everyone in the USA, not just the monied. Still, I really hope that the Democraps (sorry, couldn't resist) point out the obvious during this mid-term election instead of doing the usual, i.e., alienating the many voters who think "lib-uh-ruls" are wimpy, politically correct elitists preaching to the converted from their ivory tower/White House.

I honestly did not mean to go on a political tirade, but really, it all makes me sick.

In the meantime, I hope you feasted your orbs upon the big, beautiful Harvest Moon that coincided with the Autumnal Equinox (and the Sun's entrance into Libra). That bright star next to the Moon, by the way, was Jupiter.