By Amanda Painter

As we make our way through this first week of 2018, which began with a stunning Full Moon, I hope you’re feeling energized to move any intentions, resolutions or desires for this year forward — even in the seemingly smallest ways. What marked 2017 (personally and culturally) is carrying over for further development, as it always does from one year to the next. But it’s always possible to take a slightly different approach — and the standout astrological aspect of the next several days may speak to that opportunity.

Photo by Amanda Painter.

That would be a conjunction of Mars and Jupiter in mid-Scorpio, exact at 7:39 pm EST on Saturday but in full effect now.

There’s a very interesting detail about this conjunction, which I’ll get to in a moment. At its most basic level, however, a Mars-Jupiter conjunction is about energy, particularly physical energy. It tends to indicate that a person will likely have plenty of it, and have the desire and confidence to use it.

That can mean you need to be aware of what constitutes a dangerous risk, or to keep tabs on whether you actually have the stamina and physical conditioning to complete any activity you feel motivated to start. But if you have plans to launch a new enterprise, and Mars is making a conjunction to your Jupiter (or vice versa), astrologers generally say it’s good timing. In this case, Mars and Jupiter in Scorpio could emphasize the financial potential of this week; Scorpio might also speak to your sexual energy and your motivation and desire to embody, express and share it.

Yet there’s another side to a Mars-Jupiter conjunction. Astrologer Isabel Hickey notes that it can indicate ‘law’ (Jupiter) being too near ‘energy’ (Mars); this can manifest as taking the law into one’s own hands. President Trump’s tweet earlier this week, in which he used sexually loaded language to boast about his nuclear capability in comparison to that of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is a perfect (if absurd) example. Yes, Trump is the president; but threatening war willy-nilly with insults is not in line with traditional U.S. government protocol. Doing so with sexual innuendo is a textbook, un-evolved example of Jupiter-style excessiveness, fueled by Mars and colored by Scorpio.

So what would a more ‘evolved’ expression of this astrology look like? In a person with a sense of higher purpose, empathy and a willingness to grow, both Mars and Jupiter in Scorpio can express as a form of healing power. Scorpio is a sign capable of a tremendous sense of social justice and transformative ability.

This potential is what makes the “interesting detail” I alluded to all the more fascinating: precisely conjunct Mars and Jupiter is a little-used asteroid named Egeria. What do I mean by “precisely”? Well, each sign of the zodiac is divided into 30 degrees. Each degree is divided into 60 segments called “arc minutes.” Each arc minute is divided further into 60 “arc seconds.” Egeria is conjunct the Mars-Jupiter conjunction within one arc second. (I owe my Planet Waves colleague Amy Elliott thanks and credit for noticing this detail.)

One arc second is an incredibly narrow slice of the zodiac. When something is that precise in astrology, it usually means it’s speaking loudly. What is Egeria saying?

There a number of clues. Although, one of the best indicators will be for you to pay attention to your desires and drive on the personal level; and on the cultural level, to pay attention to the news on Saturday and in these days leading up to it.

You can find some clues on the Wikipedia page for Egeria. In myth, Egeria was a Roman nymph associated with Diana (unmarried goddess of the Moon, nature — especially woodlands — and of the hunt, as well as childbirth and women). Egeria was also advisor/consort to Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome, to whom she gave laws and rituals; and she was associated with sacred groves and springs.

Based on that information, Egeria in the Mars-Jupiter conjunction could suggest including women in your decision-making process. It’s certainly an issue that is at the cultural forefront right now, relating to the #metoo movement and to the need to have female voices (and non-binary-gender voices) heard and involved in establishing workplace environments with balanced, healthy power dynamics.

We can take other clues from the chart for Egeria’s discovery, which occurred in 1850. There was a conjunction between Uranus and Pluto in Aries in effect at that time. This means that the entire revolution/evolution cycle of those two planets — which has been the major descriptor of the upheaval we’ve witnessed since around 2010 or so, thanks to a square between Uranus and Pluto — is a major factor in what Egeria signifies. This emphasizes the idea that hearing women’s perspectives in an advisory role, especially regarding sexual power, is a revolutionary act right now; one that opens the door for evolution, if we step through it consciously.

Finally, we can look at the Sabian symbols for both the Mars-Jupiter-Egeria conjunction and Egeria’s discovery degree for more clues. (The Sabian symbols are a set of channeled images for each of the 360 zodiac degrees; the most well-known version was published by astrologer Dane Rudhyar.)

The degree for the conjunction is 18 Scorpio: “A path through woods brilliant with multicolored splendor.” In Rudhyar’s notes about this degree, he says it relates to living a life “through which spirit radiates creatively,” and to “transfiguration.”

The degree where Egeria was located when it was discovered is 2 Taurus: “An electrical storm.” Its keynote is, “The cosmic power able to transform all the implications of natural existence.”

With such beautiful imagery suggestive of powerful change, it would be easy to get excited about how different everything could be after Saturday. But that’s not typically how life works, and it’s not generally how astrology works, either. Transfiguration and transformation rarely happen suddenly, or as if by magic. Just like turning the calendar from one year to the next, we’re always working with the arc of what has come before now to lead us to the present moment; and then looking at our options, desires and environment to determine the most feasible, productive and healthy next steps.

It’s always possible for something sudden to occur — whether it feels positive or negative to us — that changes the game substantially. It’s worth keeping your eyes peeled for anything in that realm. Yet it’s even more important to do what you can, on the personal, everyday level, to manifest the available energy constructively, and with as much self-awareness, honesty and empathy as possible. You have some clues to work with, and which might help you notice others. What will this phase of your personal revolution look like?

The Art of Becoming, the 2018 Planet Waves Annual by Eric Francis, will be your best guide to the major astrological shifts ahead. If you pre-order now, you’ll not only get all 12 signs of the written reading for $99, but we’ll include three extra videos covering the forthcoming sign changes of Saturn, Chiron and Uranus. These videos are only included if you get all 12 signs. You may choose your individual signs here.