It’s not often you get a perfect juxtaposition like this. Two news stories, unrelated but happening concurrently. Two protests, together laying bare like an X-ray the hypocrisy, racism and colonialism woven into the infrastructure of a nation.

On one side North Dakota, where the Standing Rock camp opposing an oil pipeline was raided Thursday by police using rubber bullets, grenades and armored vehicles, among other things. On the other, a wildlife refuge in Oregon, taken over by armed men playing soldier back in January. They were found not guilty of conspiracy to impede federal officers by an Oregon court, also on Thursday.

A scene from Standing Rock on Thursday, from the Democracy Now! site.

The protests may look similar on a superficial basis — the little guy standing up to The Man — but ideologically and morally they could not be more different.

The Bundys and their friends subscribe to a view that control of federal lands should be devolved to state or private ownership; most likely so that they can graze their cattle on them. This is environmentally hazardous, not to mention selfish. To make their point, the Bundy-led militia took over a bird sanctuary, whose relationship to their articulated grievances was at best spurious. The standoff ended several weeks and an estimated $3.3 million worth of damage later.

Meanwhile, the Sacred Stone camp is designed to protect treaty land from the imposition of the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline, a behemoth well over 1000 miles long. Even the Department of Interior expressed concerns earlier this year about the pipeline’s proximity to the Standing Rock Reservation and the risk of water pollution from potential spillages.

Having already endured unlicensed security with attack dogs (following which Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! was threatened with prosecution for the heinous crime of doing journalism), camp members were subjected to a militarized police raid Thursday, during which 141 people were arrested. Police even used military vehicles and fired rubber bullets at horses. There were reports of beatings and live ammunition as well.

Any new oil pipeline is a grave concern in terms of pollution and global warming — but as this Truthout article reveals, this pipeline is wrong on another level entirely:

In discussing #NoDAPL, too few people have started from a place of naming that we, as Indigenous people, have a right to defend our water and our lives, simply because we have a natural right to defend ourselves and our communities. When “climate justice,” in a very broad sense, becomes the center of conversation, our fronts of struggle are often reduced to a staging ground for the messaging of NGOs.

Photo by USFWS: some of the damage done by Bundy and fellow occupiers.

Yes, everyone should be talking about climate change, but you should also be talking about the fact that Native communities deserve to survive, because our lives are worth defending in their own right — not simply because “this affects us all.”

Every Native at Standing Rock — every Native on this continent — has survived the genocide of 100 million of our people. That means that every Indigenous child born is a victory against colonialism, but we are all also born into a fight for our very existence. We need that to be named and centered.

Good grief. So in one case we have white ranchers feeling butthurt because they can’t do whatever they want, wherever they want. In the other, we have Native Americans pointing out that maybe 200+ years of genocide and colonialist land-grabbing is long enough, in the face of once again being squashed for the convenience of whitey.

To complete the picture of contrast, the damage caused by the Oregon occupation was found to have risked “the destruction and desecration of culturally significant Native American sites,” and actually to have included harm to tribal artifacts.

So colonialism is alive and well. I guess that’s no surprise when it’s an inextricable factor in a land built on the suffering of whole groups of people. It would seem there is still a long road ahead to a better nation and a better world. The only thing to do, it seems, is to keep traveling.

A couple of astrological footnotes. The chart for the Bundy case acquittals has Neptune rising to the degree: potentially a reference to the jury being swayed by Bundy’s 10-hour testimony (yes, really); this Ascendant is also exactly on Nessus in the U.S. Sibly chart. Meanwhile, as the raid at Standing Rock began, the Moon was on the MC (top of the chart), on the Aries Point and aligned with the Sibly MC within a few arc minutes. This by itself suggests that each of these events is a commentary on the state of the nation; put them together, and the point could not be clearer.

Chart for the acquittal of the Oregon occupants.

Chart for the beginning of the raid at Standing Rock.

Every four weeks or so, the Sun and Moon travel through the sky alongside one another. On a zodiac chart, that natural phenomenon shows up as the Sun and Moon in the same degree of the same sign: a New Moon.

When the Sun and Moon are in the same degree of the same sign, we do not see the Moon. Only the side facing away from Earth is illuminated by the Sun. The small amount of light reflected by Earth upon the Moon is washed out by the Sun’s glare.

Though it be unseen, and even though every New Moon is defined as a zodiacal conjunction of the two luminaries, no two New Moons are the same. Even so, every New Moon is a reminder. With every monthly absence of Luna’s glow from the night sky, we are given reason to remember the cyclical nature of all things — both above and below.

With every New Moon, the previous monthly cycle of lunar phases ends, even as the next lunation simultaneously begins. Endings and beginnings merge into one unceasing continuum. With every merger of the Sun and Moon, there is a different context. The Sun’s position in its own yearly cycle, and your own position in the cycle of Earth’s seasons, are part of that context. The remainder is made up of where each planet is in its own cycles relative to other planets, along with where you and every other being are in the cycles of life.

The New Moon in Scorpio on Sunday shortly after 1:38 pm EDT (17:38:06 UTC) will in fact serve to orient each and all of us relative to a great many things. In relation to the seasons, Sunday’s New Moon will anticipate the midpoint between the Libra equinox and the Capricorn solstice. On the zodiac, that midpoint will be represented by the Sun precisely in the middle of Scorpio (an event that will occur on Nov. 6 or Nov. 7, depending on where you live).

Interestingly, the traditions of many different human cultures on Earth intersect when the Sun approaches and reaches the middle of Scorpio. Although the details differ, the common perception is of the cycles of life and death merging into one another. Many of you know this occasion as Halloween, an artifact of older, deeper and more serious observances dating back to days when every person was close to the Earth and familiar with the sky.

Perhaps more than interestingly, this coming Nov. 6 is when daylight savings time ends in the U.S. In addition, Nov. 8 will be the day citizens of the U.S. vote for their next president — for better or worse a significant event for all earthly beings. Hence, this year there is a unusual confluence of multiple natural cycles with several of those created artificially and arbitrarily by human beings. It is a set of occurrences worthy of note, especially when you consider that all of them will be taking place within the lunar cycle that will be renewed on Sunday.

For their part, the planets are also joining in. Sunday’s New Moon will take place just days after Mercury merges with the Scorpio Sun to renew their own respective cycle, and just hours after Venus and Saturn have similarly conjoined in Sagittarius.

On the whole, Sunday’s New Moon in Scorpio looks like it will represent more than just a renewing merger of the Sun and Moon, thanks to the astrological events that will occur during the following four weeks.

Indeed, it is as if the cycles of uncounted ages and generations are coming together like a multitude of rivers flowing into a vast and majestic sea, to remind you not only of your humble place, but also of your simultaneously indispensable importance.

For you would not be alive at such a time if you were not worthy to participate in creating it. Go forth, and show that you understand. Take your hand at turning the wheel yet another time.

Offered In Service

Eric has begun the early pre-order phase of the 2017 annual edition. You can read his full letter about it here. Or, go straight to the purchase page for the current early discount, which will increase again later in the season. (If you’re a Core Community or Backstage Pass member, or have questions, please email us at cs@planetwaves.net for your extra-special discounted price.)

By Amanda Painter

Looking at the astrology as we head into the weekend (approaching a New Moon in Scorpio on Sunday), a few things come to mind: incisive, insightful communication (which may or may not always be offered tactfully); the ability and desire to get beneath the surface of things; the potential for surprising outbursts due to frustrated urges; discovering new solutions to new challenges.

Drummers at the Oct. 16, 2016, Sacred and Profane festival, Peaks Island, Maine. Photo by Amanda Painter.

If that sounds like a lot of energy looking for constructive expression, you’re right. The beautiful thing is that the current astrology could help you to go deep, get creative, and renew some facet of your life.

The tricky thing? As with so much in our lives, awareness is the key. The more aware you are of things like others’ viewpoints and feelings, any sense of staleness or stuckness in yourself, or the ways in which your needs, desires and sense of self have recently changed, the easier any necessary communication and action will be.

And by “easier,” I mean being direct, empathetic and balanced rather than passive-aggressive, being honest and intuitive, and being willing to do the work to create positive new situations. “Easier” here does not mean passive, detached or even necessarily “nice” in the sense of putting on a falsely happy face. We’re in the land of being real.

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“…there is a certain responsibility and expectation in terms of how you behave and how you present yourself.”
— President Obama (referring to standards for presidential candidates)

You can’t control how other people behave. Realistically, the only person you can aspire to regulate is yourself. At best, you can serve as an example to others. At the very least, how you express yourself, along with the actions you take, will serve to define who and what you are.

Taken as a whole, the astrology for the remainder of this week will support you in defining yourself as you wish to be known. There is even some chance that your example could make a greater difference than usual. As always, your conscious participation with the sky will be the necessary requisite for an optimized outcome.

As usual, your collaborations with the universe this week must necessarily begin on the inside. You can start by making an effort to be fully conscious of your thoughts. Given how the so-called ‘personal planets’ (the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and probably Mars) are moving, that endeavor will require more effort than usual.

The Sun (astrology’s emblem of consciousness) has been in Scorpio since the weekend. Mercury (astrology’s symbol of mind) followed the Sun into Scorpio yesterday. As result, there is an implicitly introspective vibe to the astrology. Blend in the waning Moon’s ingress to Virgo (ruled by Mercury) last night, and indications are that your thoughts are, or can be, running very deep. If you add in what Venus and Mars are currently doing, it would be worth your while to exercise some executive function and plumb those depths with intent.

Right now, Venus is cruising in Sagittarius towards aspects that indicate you will feel compelled to express what you are thinking. That’s probably a good thing. At the same time, Mars is moving through its Capricorn exaltation and into aspects that imply you will be strongly motivated to act on your thoughts. That could be even better. The key is to make sure you don’t put yourself into a situation where you later wonder (or are asked) what you were thinking prior to speaking, writing or acting.

To avoid regrettable behavior this week, there are three practical things you can do. First, write. Second, read what you wrote. Third, behave as if you actually are a presidential candidate campaigning for votes.

If keeping a journal is already part of your lifestyle, gift yourself with a little extra time to examine what your entries are really saying. If you are not a diary person, experiment with sending all of your electronic messages to only you for thorough review before passing them on.

Finally, think of yourself as a candidate of sorts. It will not benefit anybody if you are inhibited. Speaking your mind comes with the territory. Neither is inaction likely to be appropriate. It would not do, however, to be either thoughtless or reckless in how you behave or present yourself.

Be aware of where you stand. Know your issues inside and out. Speak to encourage. Act to inspire. Give others a reason to agree, rather than argue with you. Support from above is already there. Now, what you need to do is bring the skies down to Earth. In order to manifest the current celestial implications here below, work from the inside out.

Offered In Service

Eric has begun the early pre-order phase of the 2017 annual edition. You can read his full letter about it here. Or, go straight to the purchase page for the current early discount, which will increase again later in the season. (If you’re a Core Community or Backstage Pass member, or have questions, please email us at cs@planetwaves.net for your extra-special discounted price.)

When the Sun enters Scorpio shortly after 7:45 pm EDT (23:45:29 UTC) tomorrow, the accompanying astrology will be complex but understandable. Initially, at least, you may find that conditions in your life will follow suit. In general, you can expect the tableau to include an interesting mix of logical and unexpected developments.

As you might expect, much of what you consciously initiated while the Sun was in Libra will proceed to coalesce into logical consequences under a Scorpio Sun.

As those consequences take form, you will probably have to make only a few minor adjustments in order to manifest what you started over the last three or four weeks. The outcomes you have recently been seeking will likely be obtainable over the next three or four weeks so long as you are flexible regarding the details.

If, for example, you have been planning to host a Halloween party, it would be more wise to focus on essential preparations than fixate on whether someone in particular will show up.

Should there be any surprises in store while the Sun is in Scorpio, chances are they originated while you or somebody else was proceeding less than consciously during solar Libra. Should that be the case for you, take responsibility, but only for your own oversights. This does not mean you should abandon others. Instead, serve as an example to others by cleaning up after yourself as a first priority.

Finally, a word about boundaries. The two planets said to rule Scorpio (Mars and Pluto) are currently in Capricorn, which is ruled by Saturn — the lord of boundaries. The main implication of that arrangement is that you would be better off setting limits for yourself than challenging those of others. Keep your boundaries simple, and make them clear. Channel your energies towards remaining firmly grounded in what you know. Refrain from speculation, extrapolation or hyperbole.

Mars will move on to Aquarius Nov. 8 (or Nov. 9, depending on your time zone). Until then, tend to your own business first. Do the right thing as best you can. Live and let live. If you can do only those simple things, the concluding days of the Sun in Scorpio will more than likely be quite gratifying for you.

Offered In Service

Eric has begun the early pre-order phase of the 2017 annual edition. You can read his full letter about it here. Or, go straight to the purchase page for the significant early discount, which will increase Oct. 22. (If you’re a Core Community or Backstage Pass member, or have questions, please email us at cs@planetwaves.net for your extra-special discounted price.)

By Amanda Painter

Today, Thursday, Mercury in Libra opposes Uranus and Eris in Aries. This is the planet of mind and communication in the sign of relationships and preferred harmony facing across the zodiac to the planets of surprise, technology, chaos and subterfuge in the sign of self and identity.

Sun-glare and sumac; photo by Amanda Painter.

There’s a lot of energy in this setup, especially mental energy. It looks like it wants to express itself on the level of ego, and in interpersonal relationships.

In a very basic way, this could mean you’re feeling irritable, impatient or adventuresome. Erratic behavior and communication is something to watch for — and to flow with.

Think of it this way: anytime the unexpected happens, you have a choice: get angry and complain; or try to pretend it didn’t happen and keep doing what you were doing before; or get creative and work with it. Usually that third option takes the least amount of energy and leads to the best (if unanticipated) outcomes. Yet we human beings choose that route first less often than we could.

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Most of you are familiar with the “The Little Engine That Could.” Usually told as a tale for children, the story depicts a small railroad engine who takes on a big job, and succeeds while repeating “I think I can.” Starting today, and for the remainder of this week, the astrology as a whole indicates the same mantra will come in handy for you.

Before getting into the astrology, however, take a moment to appreciate yourself as a whole. Unlike a machine, you are more than just a collection of physical parts. You have demonstrably real, albeit intangible attributes such as mind, emotion, instinct and intuition.

Perhaps most profoundly, you have imagination. Even as a child you could envision a railroad engine with a personality, and learn from its fictional example. Among those lessons was how your thinking can support your efforts — or not — depending on what you choose to think. The same principle applies to what is being implied by astrological events this week.

Today’s astrology is very different from yesterday. Both the Moon and Venus have changed signs. Shortly after 3 am EDT this morning (07:00:37 UTC) Venus left Scorpio behind to initiate a journey through Sagittarius which will not conclude until Nov. 12. Less than eight hours after Venus entered Sagittarius, the Moon moved out of Taurus to begin two days in Gemini.

The most straightforward interpretation of having the Moon and Venus change signs as they have today is that some things or conditions in your life have moved on as well. It’s a cue for you to move on with them. Taking other celestial placements into account, you could plausibly begin manifesting what the Moon and Venus are indicating in two ways.

First, as much as you practically can, put the immediate past behind you. Rather than prolong any climaxes that took place with the Aries Full Moon last weekend, allow for any resolution that feels natural and unforced to take its course. Next, evaluate how much energy you have now, and where you want to put it through the weekend to come.

Mars is, as Robert Hand concisely put it, “an energy planet.” While it is not the only celestial object that may be considered so, whenever there are issues regarding energy in your life or in the world as a whole, Mars is probably where you should look first for useful information from astrology.

Tomorrow (Wednesday Oct. 19), Mars will begin the second half of its journey through Capricorn by conjoining with Pluto in the same degree of cardinal earth. Were it any planet other than Mars merging its nature with Pluto in a sign representing manifestation (among other things), you would logically expect tomorrow’s conjunction of the two to express as a climax of its own. Mars, however, is not just any other planet.

For whatever reason, Mars aspects tend to peak before they are exact to the degree. Hence, instead of waiting until after tomorrow to take stock of your own energy and plan for its future expenditure, you can safely begin to do so now. Additionally, based on what the Sun and Mercury are doing now, some optimistic planning (and effort) would probably be in order.

The Sun (astrology’s emblem for conscious awareness) is currently slogging through the final five degrees of Libra. Versatile Mercury (astrology’s symbol for how you think) is not far behind the Sun and is catching up. Together, the image represented by the Sun and Mercury this week is not unlike that depicted by “The Little Engine That Could.” Depending on who you are the details will vary, but you should at least think twice before declining to try any endeavor — even if the task seems intimidating.

What seems like a long uphill trek in your imagination may not turn out to be so bad in practice. In all probability, simply thinking that your effort will get you over the crest and on the downhill side of whatever labors you are now facing will be enough to get the job done.

Consciously put your energy into constantly and consistently imagining the outcomes you want rather than being discouraged by the trials you dread. On the whole, if you can do so, what others (or even you, prior to today) considered to be too demanding will almost certainly yield to your will.

Yesterday is gone. Today is here. Tomorrow beckons. Whatever your situation, your place in the cosmos right now strongly implies you should first and foremost think you can, no matter what life brings you.

Offered In Service

When tributaries come together to make a greater river, it’s a wondrous thing. It’s also a phenomenon too easy to take for granted because it is so effortless and natural. With notable exception for the Sun and Moon acting as a counterpoint of sorts, there’s a lot of confluence going on in the sky now.

Confluence in astrology is when planets come together in the sky and on the zodiac to occupy the same degree of the same sign. Astrologers call that a ‘conjunction’ — one of many geometric relationships between celestial objects collectively called ‘aspects’.

First and foremost among all the things conjunctions represent for astrologers is a new cycle. As is the case with other aspects where retrogrades are not involved, the prototypical conjunction by which all other such mergers are interpreted takes place between the Sun and Moon — astrology’s two ‘luminaries’. It is called a New Moon.

On the day of a New Moon, you can’t see the Moon from our perspective on Earth because it is moving through the daytime sky with the Sun. On the days that follow a New Moon, we see Luna reappear, its illumination gradually growing as it separates from the Sun. At maximum separation (about two weeks after a New Moon) we see the Sun and Moon on opposite sides of the sky and zodiac. That’s a Full Moon, astrology’s template for the aspect known as an opposition.

This weekend there will be a Full Moon in Aries. Weather permitting, it will be a beautiful sight. Regardless of where you are, this particular Aries Full Moon also promises to be a momentous occasion correlating with events significant enough to be in the foreground of your consciousness.

In the background, however, a whole heaping handful of astrologically significant objects are in the process of moving (or ‘applying’, as astrologers put it) towards their respective conjunctions. As Eric and Amanda have previously noted here on Planet Waves, one of those conjunctions (between Uranus and Eris) will share the same degree of Aries with this weekend’s Full Moon.

In the meantime, Mars is applying to conjoin with Capricorn in Pluto this coming Wednesday. Mercury, for its part, is currently chasing down the Sun in Libra for a conjunction that will take place on Oct. 27 after both have moved on to Scorpio.

Finally, this coming Tuesday, Venus will move on from Scorpio to Sagittarius. There it will conjoin with Saturn on Oct. 29 (or Oct. 30, depending on where you live), coinciding with the next New Moon.

What should you make of all these applying conjunctions currently being outshone by an impending (and implicitly momentous) Full Moon? Appropriately, there is a confluence of answers to that question. First off, as big a deal as the Aries Full Moon (and corresponding events) look to be, no single astrological aspect is the be-all, end-all. The Sun, Moon and planets keep moving after even the biggest moments. Just as the world does. Just as you endeavor to do.

More to the point, astrology is both cyclical and holistic. There is no linear movement in the sky. Everything goes around to come around, just as life does. What’s more, at any given time there are a lot of cycles going on, each in a different phase of completion. It’s important to see all of those cycles as a whole, one aspect leading to the next, all coming together effortlessly like tributaries making rivers that return to the sea to begin again.

If you are fortunate enough to view the Full Moon this weekend, remember that it’s just a moment. As with every precious moment in your life, it should not be taken for granted. Neither, however, should you take it for more than it is. Seek to flow with the corresponding events in your own way, and find your own place (whether foreground or background) within them. Then, as with all other things in the solar system of which you are a part, move on.

Offered In Service