By Jen Sorensen
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Editor’s note: this is the full PW members’ edition, featuring your weekly horoscope by Amy Elliott, Create; and Eric’s Planet Waves FM program.
Dear Friend and Reader:
Although the Sun is still in Libra, some of this week’s news events appear to have a distinct Scorpio scent. This would seem to relate to astrology involving Mercury in Scorpio that is bookending the current workweek, layered over the continuing Venus retrograde in Scorpio.
True to the intrigue emblematic of Mercury in Scorpio, it seems that a possible scapegoat for Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance was also the point of contact for Saudi Arabia’s offers of help to the Trump campaign in 2016. Rachel Maddow teased out the threads Wednesday.
We began the week with news coverage intensifying about the disappearance of Washington Post journalist and Saudi national Jamal Khashoggi.
Turkish officials allegedly have audio and video evidence of Khashoggi being tortured and dismembered within the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, which he had visited to obtain legal documents pertaining to his upcoming marriage.
We might interpret this as representing a dark shadow side to Mercury conjunct Venus in Scorpio, which was exact on Monday and which was also sextile Vesta in Capricorn. Usually astrologers describe Mercury-Venus conjunctions as stimulating an appreciation for beauty or declarations of love. Yet Mercury-Venus can also help one to see the underlying patterns in a relationship. The alleged events surrounding Khashoggi’s disappearance and apparent murder do appear to be laying bare certain unsavory facets in the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
Here we have the communication role of Mercury in a few ways. For one, Khashoggi was a journalist. Second, I’m considering this event from the perspective of when new reports spiked in popular awareness, rather than looking at an event chart for the alleged murder. Third, the evolving reporting has elicited shifting responses from the Saudi government, as well as Pres. Trump’s vocal desire to protect arms deals with the Saudis.
By Amanda Painter
Although the Sun is still in Libra, some of this week’s news events appear to have a distinct Scorpio scent. This would seem to relate to astrology involving Mercury in Scorpio that is bookending the current workweek.
Mossy micro-landscape at Acadia National Park in Maine one year ago. Photo by Amanda Painter.
We began the week with news coverage intensifying about the disappearance of Washington Post journalist and Saudi national Jamal Khashoggi.
Turkish officials allegedly have audio and video evidence of Khashoggi being tortured and dismembered within the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, which he had visited to obtain legal documents pertaining to his upcoming marriage.
We might interpret this as representing a dark shadow side to Mercury conjunct Venus in Scorpio, which was exact on Monday and which was also sextile Vesta in Capricorn. Usually astrologers describe Mercury-Venus conjunctions as stimulating an appreciation for beauty or declarations of love. Yet Mercury-Venus can also help one to see the underlying patterns in a relationship. The alleged events surrounding Khashoggi’s disappearance and apparent murder do appear to be laying bare certain unsavory facets in the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
By Amanda Painter
I recently ran across a Planet Waves article from a few years ago that described Pluto in Capricorn as wanting us to address the deepest subject matter of where ‘systems’ — such as family, religion, government, the legal system, and so on — pack all of their values into us, and then we end up with all that as ‘baggage’ that we have to sort through. Ten years into Pluto’s journey through Capricorn, I think it’s safe to say that was a pretty accurate description. Pretty much daily at this point we’re confronting events and experiences that center on these issues, and which ask us to take the conversations ever deeper.
Trail to Vernal Falls, Yosemite; photo by Amanda Painter.
At the top of the list, of course, are the ways the systems mentioned reinforce values around race, sex and the misuse of power in regard to each.
Those topics, in turn, are closely related to our attitudes toward the natural environment (and our place in it), economic mobility, the use of emerging technologies, approaches to and accessibility of health care… I could go on and on. But I suspect few would disagree that, at least in the U.S., race and sex (or sexual violence) are the two hottest of the hot-button issues in our polarized cultural dialogue.
Pluto in Capricorn is insisting that we dig into these areas as deeply as we can, and sort out what in there is entirely personal, and what is really collective. Yet I have to wonder: given the very large number of people who have direct personal experiences and even trauma involving one or both of those topics, is it truly possible to differentiate personal from collective?
I’m not 100% sure. Though I suspect that tomorrow’s square to Pluto by the Libra Sun could hold some hints. The sign Libra speaks of one-to-one relationships (among other things); with the Sun there, we get an emphasis on how we express ourselves in relation to others directly. As in, how we are in relation to one other specific person at a time.
By Amanda Painter
On Friday, at 3:04 pm EDT (19:04:14 UTC), Venus stations retrograde in Scorpio. We’re in one of those odd years when we get a series of ‘personal planet’ retrogrades in a row, sometimes overlapping each other. I think these years tend to have a distinct feel to them; I don’t know about you, but a significant chunk of 2018 has felt a little bit like limbo, or like one long phase of inner processing, and it looks like that might continue almost through the end of the year.
Playa Brava, Culebra, Puerto Rico. Photo by Amanda Painter.
Mercury’s three yearly retrogrades is a pretty familiar pattern. But this year, Mercury’s second retrograde overlapped with the summer’s Mars retrograde. And then later this fall, several hours after Venus stations direct on Nov. 16, Mercury will station retrograde the same day.
I mention this not to freak out or depress anybody, but rather so you can get oriented with an eye toward continued introspection. Yes, you will have to continue taking necessary action in your life; you might be in the process of making big changes and choices; exciting opportunities could come your way, as might frustrating challenges that you’ll need to address.
As I understand it, these retrogrades are not about treading water so much as they are about seeking new levels of self-understanding, or reviewing what got you where you are so you can plot an informed course forward. Yes, there are certain precautions and guidelines — such as avoiding unnecessary large purchases while Mercury is retrograde, or not assuming that the new lover you hook up with during a Venus retrograde is ‘The One’. But that’s not the same as being too afraid to do what needs to be done.
So what’s unique about the chart for Venus stationing retrograde tomorrow? For one thing, Venus will change apparent direction in close conjunction with a hypothetical point called Poseidon (the Greek version of Neptune; associated with enlightenment and illumination) and with the asteroid Persephone (the goddess brought to the underworld by Pluto to be his wife, resulting in the seasons as she makes her annual journey above ground and then back down again).
By Amanda Painter
It always fascinates me when a personal event reflects not only the astrology, but also something about the cultural zeitgeist. I had one of those experiences early Monday evening, just a few hours before the Aries Full Moon peaked.
Heathrow airport in May; photo by Amanda Painter.
I was going through the security line to board a flight, and opted out of the scanning machine, requesting a pat-down instead.
This has been my policy for a number of years now: it’s kind of a solo, silent protest against the machines and their original privacy issues, and against the massive, barely questioned undermining of civil liberties swept in by the Patriot Act following the Sept. 11 disaster.
I realize a silent protest is not going to effect change, but I do it more for myself: as a way of claiming my limited power of choice in the situation, knowing that I am perfectly within my rights not to offer any explanation. Perhaps someone more hell-bent on making a point to ‘the authorities’ would make a statement, but what can I say? I am a practical Taurus; I want to get to my destination without missing my flight and having to pay for another one.
For me, it is enough to know that I am taking my space in a situation where there’s a lot of pressure — psychological and temporal — to just keep everything moving smoothly and not stand out. I know that as I stand there getting my pat-down, some people are probably wondering if I got flagged by security as a risk. So I guess there’s an element of wanting to be an example to others that it’s possible to go through this procedure without feeling like a victim: I am choosing this, and my reasons are my own.
By Amanda Painter
Shortly after the Sun and Mercury meet for a conjunction in late Virgo today, they make a tag-team entrance into Libra. Mercury gets there first, ingressing Libra at 11:39 pm EDT Friday (3:39:15 UTC Saturday). Then the Sun follows suit at 9:54 pm EDT Saturday (1:53:59 UTC Sunday) for the equinox.
Above the edge of the fog bank on Bald Peak in Camden Hills State Park, Maine. Photo by Amanda Painter.
As you know, the Libra equinox signals the start of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, and is one of two times in the year when we experience equal hours of daylight and darkness (the first being the Aries equinox, which commences Northern Hemisphere spring and begins the astrological year). Seasonal shifts are major turning points.
As such, and perhaps because of the visible shift in the day-night relationship, I tend to associate them with very specific tones or moods of emotion and energy — though this can be highly personal.
Some people relish the cooler, crisper air of fall and the sense of settling back down and in; I tend to grieve the loss of warmth, bare skin and long days of outdoor play (especially in the water). Whichever way you lean (and whichever half of the globe you’re in), I think it pays to notice the shift of the season and your response to it.
Astrologically, the equinoxes (as well as the solstices) activate the Aries Point. That’s the first degree (or so) of Aries where issues of both collective (political) and personal importance intersect and inform each other, and this quality gets extended to the first degrees of all the cardinal signs (Cancer, Libra and Capricorn being the others).
So what’s hanging out in the early cardinal signs to greet the Sun and Mercury when they land in the first degree of Libra this weekend? Quite an intriguing collection of objects, it turns out, especially if we look at the first three degrees (written as 00 – 02 degrees) of the cardinal signs.
Editor’s note: this is the full PW members’ edition, featuring your weekly horoscope by Amy Elliott, Create; and Eric’s Planet Waves FM program.
Dear Friend and Reader:
What’s on your mind (other than Hurricane Florence)? Or, perhaps a better question might be: how is your mind behaving this week, especially in response to the unexpected or the unclear? I ask because Mercury in Virgo (a sign it rules) is making some aspects that could well be affecting your thought processes and perception.
Street art in Portsmouth, NH.* Photo by Amanda Painter.
The primary aspect in question is Mercury’s opposition to Neptune in Pisces — exact today, though it’s been in effect for several days and will continue to be so for several more.
Mercury is also in a square to the rather mysterious Great Attractor (a deep-space phenomenon in mid-Sagittarius), exact today. And between now and Sunday, Mercury is making a trine to Pluto in Capricorn and a sextile to Jupiter in Scorpio.
But first: Mercury and Neptune. At its best, this can be an aspect of heightened spiritual sensitivity and awareness. With Pluto offering assistance with investigating deep issues and mysteries, and Jupiter lending a hand with seeing how things fit the underlying patterns in your life, you may very well uncover some profound truths with this astrology.
Here’s the thing, though: in our mainstream culture and everyday life, it’s relatively rare to witness or experience Neptune in its higher manifestations. More often, we encounter Neptune’s glamour, cloudiness, slipperiness, confusion and outright deception.