The hours of your day cycle in synchrony with the rotation of the Earth on its axis. The years of your life are most often gauged by the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. Yet, time as traditionally measured sometimes feels a bit off, especially at this time of year.

Occasionally there is an entire year that feels either incredibly short or especially long, as measured by the events of your life. If 2015 has been like that for you, you may have made an important discovery about your connection with the universe.

It could be that your own sense of time is influenced by the motions and meetings of Venus and Mars. This year has been distinguished in significant part by three Venus-Mars conjunctions. While it is not exactly rare for Venus and Mars to come together in the same degree of the same sign three times in one calendar year, it is at the very least unusual.

That’s how Eric saw fit to include this year’s triumvirate of Venus-Mars mergers in his listing of the top five astrological events of 2015, which he compiled nearly one year ago. The way things turned out, Eric’s anticipation was highly cogent (as evinced by Amanda Painter and reader responses to her) when she resonantly wrote earlier this week to close the circle after this year’s final meeting of Venus in Mars in Virgo.     

The more common pattern for Venus-Mars conjunctions is roughly every other year. Witness the two immediately previous (on May 23, 2011, and April 7, 2013), as well as the next one to follow, which will again take place in Virgo (on Oct. 5, 2017).

If there is anything to astrology, a return to the usual patterns of time as measured by the aspects from Venus to Mars will begin to become palpable when Venus enters Libra on Sunday. That’s because Libra is one of the two signs (along with Taurus) where Venus is said to rule, distinguishing itself from other planets there most strongly.

The enhanced perspective that will implicitly correlate with Venus in Libra will, in turn, provide a chance to begin evaluating and understanding how 2015 has transpired for you.

If this year has felt especially long, you might be able to chalk it up to the fact that three conjunctions from Venus to Mars in one year symbolically correlates to six years of more usual experience. If it feels as though that has been the case for you, the ingress of Venus into Libra on Sunday can be used to begin consolidating what you have gained through personal evolution, growth and progress, particularly in areas of your life (such as relationships) that correspond with the nature of Venus and Mars in combination.

If, on the other hand, 2015 has felt like something significantly less than a year for you, that perspective will offer valuable information as well. For as proverb informs us, time does indeed seem to pass more quickly when you are having fun.

What’s your dream? Let Planet Waves support you in reaching for it. You can now get access to articles posted on this website through Planet Waves’ new reader-level membership. For weekly email delivery plus more, explore our Core Community.

The same can be said for any period when you are so involved in what you are doing as to become disconnected from any external means of measuring time’s passage.

If your own experience of 2015 was more along those lines, Venus moving on to Libra will represent a chance to begin coming up for some air, and re-engaging with time as experienced with (and by) others.

Even though Mars will follow Venus into Libra one week from today, a new die has been cast. Venus is accelerating to pull away from Mars, as well as from both the pace and patterns of an unusual year. This does not necessarily mean, however, a return to business and life as usual. Not unless you can manage to ignore or deny your own experience in 2015.

Rather, as this year draws to a close, Venus moving on will represent an example for you to consider following. Instead of going back to the way things were, consider honoring, validating and vindicating everything you have been through in 2015. Leave behind all that was previously usual, so as to better and more bravely go where you have never gone before.

After all, isn’t it about time?

Offered In Service          

“Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.”
— Martin Luther King Jr., from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC on Aug. 28, 1963

Life is fragile. Yet life persists against all odds. More than that, life consistently prevails no matter how harsh the conditions. It’s not because living things are hard as diamonds. Counter-intuitive though it may seem, life is so resilient precisely because it is so vulnerable.

As a rule, the more complex the life form, the more vulnerable it is. Even so, survivability is enhanced in proportion to complexity. It is a paradox of which you are an example. 

You have no warm coat of fur to protect you from the elements. Neither can you hibernate when conditions are harsh and food is scarce.

Even so, people have proven adept at finding food, clothing and shelter in nearly all of Earth’s environments. Part of that proficiency is a direct result of how our physical and mental complexity confers an enhanced capacity for cooperation.

Beyond forming and extending on community, however, is an even greater and even more human talent. It is a skill natural to our kind. It’s a faculty that originates and evinces in the individual. It is a common aptitude that is more fragile than even your body. It’s the ability to spontaneously generate, nurture and share the unique form of aspiration often called a dream.

This is an even harder world for dreams and dreamers than it is for life and living things. That which is without substance has little value for those concerned only with subsistence. Furthermore, it is difficult for dreamers to find community when (as is often the case) they are mocked as childish, or disparaged as delusional.

It is much easier to rail against what is than to entertain what is not. So it is that many dreams die. It’s easier that way, even if it is very painful. Yet it is not always necessary for dreams to perish.

You can often choose the dream and persist. There are even times when you can prevail because of, rather than in spite of, such a choice. If there is anything to astrology, you are now entering just such a sustained period. It has to do with where Jupiter and Chiron are and what they are doing.

Jupiter, which among other things represents optimism, is in grounded Virgo until next September. It is a placement that implies a period when it is implicitly more practical to be optimistic than is usually the case, provided you choose to sustain belief rather than buy into disillusionment.

Chiron, for its part, is on the other side of the zodiac from Virgo, in dreamy Pisces. That placement by itself indicates an era when vulnerability can be advantageous, provided you can sustain faith through pain.

What’s your dream? Let Planet Waves support you in reaching for it. You can now get access to articles posted on this website through Planet Waves’ new reader-level membership. For weekly email delivery plus more, explore our Core Community.

Today, shortly before 5 pm EST (21:56:57 UTC), the separation from Jupiter to Chiron reaches precisely 180 degrees, forming an aspect called an opposition. That aspect will repeat two more times next year.

In between and following those three oppositions, Jupiter and Chiron will remain close enough to 180 degrees of separation for the aspect to be considered functional and continuous through at least next August.

Among other things, what oppositions represent for astrologers is a potential (or dream, if you will) for synthesis into a whole. Two things about this specific opposition from Jupiter to Chiron appear to enhance the probability of that potential being filled and dreams coming true.

First is the relationship between the respective objects and the signs they occupy. Jupiter is the classical ruler of Pisces. Chiron’s place in astrology, as Eric has often pointed out, has a lot in common with the intrinsic nature of Virgo as a sign that represents service and wholeness (among other things). Hence, this particular opposition of Jupiter to Chiron portrays an informal yet plausible case of what astrologers call mutual reception. It’s a phenomenon that brings the two objects to resemble each other in practice, enhancing the possibility of synthesis.

The other thing about this opposition is how it evokes an era when dreams were conferred with an unprecedented degree of legitimacy, largely as result of a famous speech by the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.

In that speech, Dr. King articulated a fragile yet powerful dream. It was a dream that the principles upon which his nation was founded could finally be made real. But it was also a dream that had not yet come to pass, because of oppositions that had yet to be resolved.

As an indispensable part of the effort to realize the principles of equality and justice, Dr. King advocated non-violence. He persisted with that advocacy even through suffering violence because he had faith that those who sustained the dream could be vindicated and at long last redeemed. Because he chose that dream even over the survival of his vulnerable body, his legacy survives to this day, and you are among his many beneficiaries.

That famous speech was delivered during Chiron’s immediately previous tenure in Pisces more than half a century ago. Now Chiron has returned, and Jupiter is entering a long opposition from Virgo to emphasize the possibility that your dreams today and the legacy of dreams long deferred — but still sustained — might yet become one and come true through you.

But that can only happen if you choose the dream over the easier alternatives Dr. King counseled us to eschew. By doing so you will be acting to sustain even more than community and cooperation. You will also serve as one with what is perhaps the most important of all human legacies: the ability to dream and the will to make dreams real. 

Offered In Service

One of the great things about Halloween as it is now celebrated is that it is frivolous. It’s important to remember that frivolity is sometimes a good thing. It’s a good thing to get back to the original spirit of play as you may have experienced it in childhood, before life had objectives.

It’s not complicated. The original spirit of play is to have fun for fun’s sake. You do not need to learn anything while playing, instructive though it may be. It is also not essential for play to be competitive or to get anything done. Instead, play should be a safe alternative to learning and working all the dang time.

The spirit of play specific to Halloween allows you to safely explore what would otherwise be risky, or even scary. It’s a chance to loosen up emotionally, intellectually, even physically if you manage to get out and look at the decorations and enjoy the costumes.

The costumes and customs germane to Halloween celebrations are a chance to be imaginative and creative with no pressure to produce anything and no need to satisfy somebody else. It’s an opportunity to be curious and experiment with some of your own boundaries with no requirement that you be disciplined or show a result.

If ever there were a Halloween to indulge the spirit of play, astrology indicates that this might well be it. A lot of it has to do with where Mercury has been, where it is now and what it’s heading for.

For starters, Mercury has been in Libra since Aug. 27. That’s more than two months, a long time for a planet that very often moves through a sign in less than three weeks. What kept Mercury in Libra so long was one of its famous (some would say infamous), periodic and predictable retrogrades. Indeed, it was less than one week ago, on Oct. 24, that Mercury finally emerged from the narrow confines in which it had pedantically paced back and forth three times for over seven weeks.

Since Mercury is so versatile, a long, slow and repetitive oscillation in a narrow slice of the zodiac can correspond with you and your life getting a little stale. That’s especially true of your mind — another thing Mercury will often correlate with. What better way, then, to refresh stale thinking than to play a little?

Right now, Mercury is nearly back up to full speed. It’s clipping along through what remains of its Libra tenure at the rate of more than a degree and a half every day. By early Monday, Mercury will be in Scorpio where it will accelerate even more, dashing through one momentous aspect after another. It’s enough to make you feel like Lewis Carroll’s white rabbit, always worked up about being late. What better remedy to being frazzled than to take advantage of Halloween being on a Saturday this year? Why not consider taking your eye off the clock, allowing time to fly if only for a day, or at least an evening?

Of course, you should also remember that play and fun at their best are safe. When you were a child, your elders took on at least some of the responsibility of providing safe times and places for you to play. Now that you are an adult, the obligation of assuring that the spirit of play remains without trouble or hazard falls to you.

A big part of playing safely is preventative in nature. If some of your Halloween play ends up being sexual, use protection. If you need to drive an automobile, don’t drink alcohol or indulge in any other substance that interferes with your judgment, alertness or reflexes. After all, kids don’t need to be wasted to have fun. Also, be careful with fire in all its many forms.

Finally, be mindful of others, especially in how you play with them. You are not the only one who needs to have some fun. Make a point of honoring the spirit of play by at least being safe and fun to be with.

If you can, give yourself a break for Halloween this year. Step out of the rat race. Slow down. Be frivolous. Without getting careless, find a way to do something something that helps you remember what it is like to be carefree again. Of all the various spirits you may encounter, let the spirit of play be the one you choose to spend the most time with.

Offered In Service

Your life probably has some focus. Focus is determined by your priorities, and constitutes a large part of your reality. That’s all to the good. In an age when a huge amount of information reaches you instantly from all parts of the globe, you need to pick and choose what will take up your attention, time and energy.

The astrology this week, however, does seem to encourage you to widen your focus just a bit. Again, that will also be a matter of choice.

You might be tempted to focus a bit more on politics as the U.S. presidential race heats up. Or you might need to focus more on family as we approach what for many is a holiday season.

Then again, if you are following astrology you might want to choose a path less often taken. You may want to leave baseball’s world series and the political talking heads to the large crowds they will attract. Could be you would be better off devoting whatever time and energy you have leftover to focus on what you have taken for granted.

Even if you seemingly have no time or energy to spare, you might want to adjust your priorities and attend to your health instead of relying on it. The same may possibly be said for the health of your community, or that of the Earth. For without healthy body, mind, community and planet, how would you be able to focus on anything of your own choosing and apply yourself effectively?

That’s one question being put by today’s Full Moon, and some select (if easier to overlook) astrological events to follow through the end of this month. If ever a Full Moon has taken on a wider focus, it’s this one. Consider its location. As noted in this column on Thursday, the Taurus Full Moon this morning took place in the precise degree of the zodiac where the Moon is possibly most powerful — the lunar degree of exaltation. Additionally, as Amanda described yesterday, that same degree of Taurus is also where Chiron was discovered.

Chiron itself, especially in its opposition from bright Venus today (which Amanda also noted in the comments), is about focus, but not of the narrow variety. Paraphrasing Robert Hand, the type of focus implied by Chiron is holistic, having to do with details upon which an entire system would depend. It’s about knowing what detail needs your attention at any given moment so that the whole can continue to function.

So it is that some often unheeded details of the solar system are combining with and following today’s Full Moon to indicate a wider focus might be the wiser option. It started with Vesta temporarily taking its theme of devotion back to Pisces in retrograde on Sunday. It is as if Vesta needs to attend to a few remaining details that will allow it to focus its fiery advocacy in what will ultimately be a long journey through Aries.

The theme of considering a wider focus then extends to Ceres entering Aquarius today. Eric provided us with the holistic lowdown regarding Ceres (in the midst of what were ostensibly more ‘important’ astrological events) back on Oct. 18. If you haven’t read that piece yet (or to re-read it with re-focused and new appreciation), you will find it linked here.

Finally, when Pallas takes its own priorities of justice and art into Capricorn on Saturday (as both the week and the month draw to a close), you might notice a wider theme. Vesta, Ceres and Pallas are named after ancient goddesses, which were too often taken for granted and not often enough given the focus they deserved.

When Vesta was not given the emphasis she was due, Rome suffered. When Ceres and her concerns were rudely dismissed by the good-old-boy gods of antiquity, Earth suffered. Last, but not least, the failure to honor Pallas with the proper respect never failed to exact a telling toll on the gods, nations and heroes of legend.

Hence, even if you are running as fast as you can to stay in the same place, you may want to at least consider a slightly wider focus this week. Include yourself in that by taking even a small step to better support your health. Include your community by remembering that politicians and politics are only part of the picture. Finally, always remember to include the Earth with an endeavor to leave wherever you go a bit better than you found it.

You are heading into what will, in many ways, be a busy season. Politics, cultural festivities and family relationships will all be clamoring for your attention through the end of the year. Even so, they are but part of a greater whole. A slightly wider focus for the sake of seeing and supporting that greater whole just might be the best investment you can possibly make at this time.

Offered In Service

It’s getting close to Halloween again. Many of you have memories of trick-or-treating as a youngster. Some of you then grew into the role of chaperone for, or host to, costumed children born into the next generation or two. Yet, even as old a practice as it is, Halloween is but a vestige of far more ancient and profound observances.

We are approaching a midpoint between the beginning of one season and the start of the next. Just as there are four seasons, there are four such middle times in every solar year.

For a surprisingly large and diverse number of ancient cultures, these “cross-quarters” were every bit as important as the days heralding the initiation of a new season.

In most of those ancient traditions, the days surrounding seasonal midpoints represent a period when the veil separating worlds becomes thin. Forms of astrology that are synchronized with the seasons (such as the western tropical astrology practiced here at Planet Waves) are among those traditions.

Science now seriously entertains the possibility of multiple universes existing in parallel with each other. Hence, the ancient interpretation of cross-quarters is an old idea that has recently become new again. As Eric has repeatedly noted for you, this era marked by Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn moving into and out of a square aspect on the zodiac has been distinguished by many such revivals.

If astrology serves as a touchstone for you, the Sun at the midpoint of Scorpio (which will take place this year on Nov. 7) represents the next cross-quarter. Even so, you may want to consider how the proverbial veil may well be starting to grow thin as soon as this weekend. It has to do with the Sun and Moon, as one might expect. Yet, the two luminaries are not alone indicating something special that distinguishes this particular seasonal midpoint in this particular year.

The Sun initiates the impending mid-season by entering Scorpio shortly before 1:47 pm EDT (17:46:41 UTC) tomorrow. On the heels of the Sun doing its part, the Moon will then follow up in spades.

Next Tuesday at about 8:05 am EDT (12:05 UTC), the Moon will be in Taurus precisely opposing the nascent Scorpio Sun. That opposition, by definition, will be a Full Moon. Not just any Full Moon, either. Rather, an uncommon and implicitly powerful one.

No, next Tuesday’s Full Moon will not be a lunar eclipse — we had one of those at the end of last month. Nonetheless, you might consider this Full Moon worthy of note because it will take place in the precise degree of the zodiac (3+ Taurus) where astrologers consider the Moon to be most powerfully exalted. That does not happen very often. For astrologers what does not happen very often is inherently special, especially where exaltation is involved.

Both the Sun and Moon and all of the classical planets have a sign (or signs) where they are said to rule. The Moon, for example, rules the sign Cancer. Yet a planet can also be exalted, which metaphorically translates to represent all the privileges of rule with none of the responsibilities. That’s how you might say that the upcoming Full Moon will be implicitly capable of transcending any and all boundaries, heralding a time when anything is possible.

To use poker terms then, the Taurus Full Moon on Tuesday will figuratively ‘see’, and then ‘raise’  the mid-seasonal period initiated by the Scorpio Sun tomorrow. And that’s not all.

The infinitely thin boundaries between signs (known as ‘cusps’) may fairly be considered veils in their own right. Such is the often noticeable difference when the Sun and other objects change signs. Right now, a whole heaping handful of those 12 cusps are occupied by interesting celestial objects and prestigious astrological points.

Without going into complicated detail as to the particulars, those occupancies are functioning to indicate a thinning of all veils everywhere. Tomorrow the Sun is going to add to it. Think of doors serendipitously held open wherever you go, and you will get the drift. Just as with the upcoming Full Moon, there are implicitly no limits for you.

Additionally, the cross-quarter between the Libra equinox and Capricorn solstice is looking to be every bit as prolonged as it is pronounced this year. You might say that the midpoint of this season will extend for at least two weeks, beginning tomorrow.

All of us, then, are implicitly about to embark upon a rather wide crossing. To make sure that being able to transcend limits does not lead you into excess, you may want to consider not making that crossing alone. Find a buddy, or better yet, collaborate with a group. It will not matter so much what you are getting together to do. Simply getting together will be a good start.

Let your cooperative consultations be without agenda so as not to limit possibility, but have some general guidelines. Work together with others for what amounts to a mutual benefit. Endeavor with others to maximize transcendence and minimize transgression. If you can do only that for the next few weeks or so, you could very well find yourself having gone farther in some sense than you previously thought possible in such a short amount of time.

It will be interesting to see what we find on the other side.

Offered In Service

Before trundling off into the wilderness, the ancient Chinese sage Lao Tsu kept his nation’s archives and advised the ruling class. He left some of his guidance behind in the Tao Te Ching. Among his key teachings was that a great country is not belligerent, and that a great leader offers virtue in return for guidance from those led.

That was about 2,500 years ago. History and evolution seem to have been at work since then. It’s high time to acknowledge what has changed.

Somewhere along the line, great nations and their ruling classes seem to have abdicated their proper role, aspiring to become something more akin to gods than leaders.

Just as it used to be with gods, the most powerful nations and their ruling classes now spend most of their resources vying to bring death down from the sky. There is little (if any) acknowledgement or leadership offered to their respective citizens. It is thus not surprising that many of us among the led now typically feel forsaken by our leaders, much as the biblical figure Job was reported to have felt about his deity.

All of which leaves it to you to fill the vacuum and comport yourself as Lao Tsu would have both a great country and a great leader do. After all, if not you — who? If not now, when? The alternative to your stepping up is to abdicate, just as many of your leaders have — allowing the belligerent and those without virtue to fill the void. Unless your conscience can either accept or ignore such consequences, your alternative is to do your best to be the great country that no longer serves you. It is also for you to serve as an example for other individuals to do the same.

Not surprisingly, the cycles of some of the faster planets (which correlate with the pace of your personal life) and their aspects to the slower, more distant objects in our solar system (which move with the rhythms of history) could reasonably be construed to be symbolizing just such a new role for you — and for others who would be inspired to emulate your example.

Right now, astrology’s most current indicator of how you should step up is Mars in Virgo moving to oppose Chiron on the other side of the zodiac in Pisces (180 degrees away). That aspect is exact just before 4:48 am EDT (08:47:57 UTC) on Friday. The implication becomes even more clear when you compare the immediately previous opposition of Mars and Chiron to the next one about to take place.

One thing to remember is that Mars aspects tend to express in advance of being exact. Hence, it’s not too soon to look ahead to Mars opposing Chiron on Friday. In essence, it’s happening all week. Another thing to note is that the word “opposition” for astrologers does not always (or even usually) represent conflict. It’s more a reflection, like the one you get from the mirror opposing your face.

The last time Mars in Virgo opposed Chiron in Pisces was Oct. 31, 2013. On the same day, Mars was in a precise (to the degree) trine aspect (a separation of 120 degrees) with relentless Pluto in Capricorn. When you consider how trines can be enabling, and look at the news on that day, it’s revealing.

The headlines for Halloween 2013 show aggressive Mars operating with impunity, as evinced by a U.S.drone strike (death from above) in Pakistan. Chiron, being more subtle and nuanced than Mars, yet nonetheless ever the “inconvenient benefic” (as the late, great Al Morrison put it), was reflected by undeniable revelations facilitated by Edward Snowden. As result of that one individual, it was revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA) was spying on its allies, as well as on U.S. citizens. Indications are that this time around can be different, but only if you believe you can make a difference.

Regardless of how you feel about Edward Snowden (without whom we would never have known that the NSA was practicing unbridled god-like omnipotence by routinely spying on friend, foe and you), he did demonstrate that one individual can make a difference. While you are probably not in a position to make as big an impact as he did, the biggest constraint on your power in the world is how much you believe you can do.

Interestingly, Chiron will be sharing the same degree of Pisces (and the opposition from Mars) with Borasisi on Friday. As Eric put it last year (in his “Top Five Events for 2015“), “Borasisi is about the power of belief.” When you consider how Chiron makes denial difficult — and factor in another, substantially different trine to Pluto on Friday (from Venus in Virgo — emblematic of personal values) — you get a very different picture from October of 2013.  

That picture, of course, can only be completed by you. That’s how astrology works. You are the most important element. In this case, the deciding factor will be how much you believe in your ability to step up and be a great nation of one, defined by a dedication to peace. It’s time to believe you can be a great leader who offers virtue and accepts guidance. Yours is the privilege to prove how far individual human beings have come since the time of Lao Tsu.

This is not about changing the world, at least not for now. It’s about believing you can change yourself. From that belief, truly great countries of many may yet come to be again.

Offered In Service

Times of renewal are not always determined by cycles of the Sun and seasons. There are rhythms that are not annual in nature. There are also patterns that do not repeat at the same time every day.

The ocean’s tides (largely governed by the Moon) are one example. Therefore, that which moves only with the tides comes and goes on a schedule of its own. The same can be said for cycles of the planets.

Among the more meaningful cycles of the planets are those that begin with conjunctions. When any two planets meet to share the same degree of the same sign, they renew a pattern uniquely their own.

After a typical one-off conjunction not complicated by a retrograde, the faster of the two planets moves on ahead to eventually catch up with the slower one again. Yet, because the slower planet also moves, the next meeting of the two is often, but not always, in a different sign, and on a different day than the previous meeting.

The renewal of such a pattern thus provides a different yet meaningful perspective on time compared to what you get from calendars. The nature of that perspective will depend on the nature of the two planets involved, and on how the astrology associated with their merger compares with the context in which the previous cycle started.

It is thus that the Virgo conjunction of Mars and Jupiter on Saturday, exact just before 6:40 pm EDT (22:39:42 UTC), will bear both watching and remembering. That’s because the immediately previous meeting of Mars and Jupiter took place on one of the most astrologically eventful days in recent memory. That day included at least one historical event that could turn out to be of far greater significance than anybody imagined at the time.

The last time Mars conjoined Jupiter was in cardinal, watery Cancer on July 22, 2013. That conjunction took place in a very precise grand water trine with Saturn in Scorpio and Neptune in Pisces. Later on the same day, Venus ingressed Virgo. Then the Sun entered Leo, followed shortly by the Moon entering Aquarius to precipitate a Full Moon.

Wow. It might very well be worth your while to remember what you were doing on that day, and contemplate it this weekend. You might gain some perspective that no conventional anniversary could provide.

There was one event that might help you remember July 22, 2013. Between Venus leaving Leo by the back door and the Sun coming in Leo’s front door, Prince George of Cambridge was born. While it would be interesting to see what sort of day the young prince has on Saturday, it would probably be best if you focused on your own life.

That’s because the next convergence of Mars with Jupiter this weekend will implicitly be a more focused event than its immediate predecessor. Given how the nature of Mars is energetic, and the nature of Jupiter is to amplify, it would probably be a good idea to be focused yourself, especially as compared to the last time Mars conjoined with Jupiter.

First off, the astrological context will not be nearly as busy this time. Hence, the consequence of Martian and Jovian energies merging is a lot less likely to be lost in the din.

Then, consider how Virgo (where Mars and Jupiter will meet) is a sign noted for its association with mental concentration. Some of that has to do with how Virgo is the only sign where the ruler (mental Mercury) is also exalted. Additionally, as Eric has often pointed out, there is a thematic correspondence between Virgo and another astrologically significant object, which (among other characteristics) is emblematically representative of focus: Chiron.

Interestingly, when Mars and Jupiter come together on Saturday, both will be moving to oppose Chiron in Pisces. If the message of that near opposition does not get through to you, there will be an even tighter aspect to consider: another trine.

This time around the conjunction of Mars with Jupiter will take place almost exactly 120 degrees away from Pluto in Capricorn, forming an earth-sign trine. Trines are known for being conducive to flow. That conduction in turn tends to connect the constituents of the aspect like a good connection on a long-distance call. The implication is that Pluto’s participation will be significant even if it is not strictly palpable.

If all else fails to get your attention, Pluto will. Hence, it will be better to bring your own attention, so to speak. That’s how this will implicitly be a weekend to both watch mindfully and remember consciously. Not in spite of the fact that most of the world will neither note this conjunction of Mars and Jupiter nor correlate the last one, but because of that fact. Indeed, this could very well be one of those times when astrology really helps you to accurately perceive and appropriately respond to an ebb and flow that cycles of the Sun and seasons would never by themselves reveal.

Offered In Service