By Amanda Painter
How are things shaking out now that we’ve concluded the eclipse period, and Saturn and Pluto have made their famous meeting in Capricorn? True, Saturn-Pluto is still working out, and Pluto is not at all done with Cap yet. But has anything shifted? Do you feel like you’re in recovery? Are you facing a brave (or scary, or shiny, or intimidating) new world?
Fire Engine Abstract #4. Photo by Amanda Painter.
It may take a good while yet to see the effects of choices you’ve made in the last two to three weeks. Chances are good, though, that you understand something about your world, and your personal agency in it, in a new way.
Right on cue, Mercury — the planet of intellect — is leaving the Capricorn herd and entering Aquarius at 1:31 pm EST today (18:30:42 UTC). Mercury is strong here, blending the steady persistence of Saturn (traditional ruler of Aquarius) with the intuitive inventiveness of Uranus (modern ruler of Aquarius).
Mercury in Aquarius also tends to be a communicative, friendly placing, likely related to the association Aquarius has with groups. It can be iconoclastic with its ideas, but there’s also a reminder to beware of inflexible thinking once the brainstorm has offered its insights. Aquarius is, after all, a fixed sign, describing the repeated crystallization of new patterns after old ones have been interrupted.
With Venus now in Pisces as of Monday, and Mercury entering Aquarius, we get some personal-level softening and enlivening of all the serious, earthy Capricorn energy we’ve been living in. Mercury in Aquarius, in particular, suggests the ability to approach from a new angle whatever turning point or restructuring you are currently navigating.
You’re about to get some help, in the form of inner restlessness or mental stimulation. Mercury is now square Uranus in Taurus (exact Saturday). And though both Taurus and Aquarius are fixed signs, this looks to me like a potentially inspiring few days.
Uranus represents the unexpected, the ‘cosmic spark plug’, the world’s (and your own) revolutionary impulses. In contrast, Taurus likes to take an easy, steady pace with things. Mercury in a Uranus sign, making a tension-and-action aspect to Uranus itself, describes the mind moving quickly and unexpectedly. Yet you might find your thoughts are developing faster than you can act on them.
That’s okay. Take notes — whether on paper, verbally on your phone, or as texts and emails to someone (or to yourself). Get it all down so you don’t lose it. You can assess the strength of the ideas and the integrity of your plans after a few days, when you can pause and focus.
Don’t worry if your plans for the weekend don’t pan out. What new thing do you feel inspired to try instead? Can you be flexible, rather than clinging stubbornly to your expectations? I know it’s not always easy, but it will likely help to ease any nervous tension, if you’re prone to it.
Note also that the goddess asteroid Pallas enters Capricorn on Saturday. One resource I checked associates Pallas in Capricorn with such healing modalities as osteopathy, chiropractic, deep tissue massage and dentistry. I have not done the research to see if that bears out — but it may be worth considering some kind of structural bodywork while Pallas is in this sign.
At the very least, Pallas would seem to offer a strategic type of wisdom. Pallas Athena was a warrior goddess, sprung fully formed from the head of Zeus. You don’t need to think in terms of warfare. It might, however, be helpful to think of marshaling all your resources for whatever you are undertaking.
Everything that has gotten you to where you are now counts: from your family’s heritage and traditions, to your past work experience, to all the various healing and self-understanding modalities you’ve tried, to the patterns you’ve worked to undo and the new ones you’re trying to set. Anything you have learned (and learned to let go), any form of self-mastery, is part of the foundation you can stand upon now.
No experience has been wasted, if you have learned from it. If it has eventually served to open and enlarge your world and your sense of possibility, rather than shrink or close it down, it has been time and effort well spent. You can use this wisdom to direct whatever Mercury-Uranus lightning bolts light your mind’s sky in the coming days. And you can carry the image of that light to guide you through whatever Saturn-Pluto has compelled you to begin.
If you have a Capricorn Sun, rising sign or Moon and could use some insights about the challenges and opportunities life is sending your way, your relationships, career and more, pre-order the 2020 Capricorn Astrology Studio by Eric Francis Coppolino. Now available for instant access! Some of the most era-defining astrology has been centered on your sign in recent years, and that includes the biggest current astrological events. It also makes an amazing gift for your Cap loved ones.
Hi Amanda!
I’ve gotten an idea of what we can do to help. It’s what I’ve been doing.
Read this book, “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis”.
What the book reveals is where around 30-35% of the People in our country are coming from, whether it be called “hillbilly” or “redneck”. My ex and still best friend was raised as a hillbilly. So I have a decades long intimate experience with the culture itself.
Straight to the point, the people need doors opened for them. They need help in filling out paperwork. It often scares them because they do not understand. It’s what I do. I ask questions that are easy to answer and fill out the paperwork for them. I help people apply for food stamps. I help people apply for health insurance. I help people file their taxes. I help people apply for student aid. I help people apply for their social security benefits.
And I do it all as a friend of theirs with a smile on my face whenever I see them.
Start opening doors.
Opening doors sounds like a perfect way to start, Sue. It is so easy to get caught up in political/ideological differences, and forget that a little humanity, one person to another, can often make a world of difference.
One of the most important things we can do is drop all judgments and perceptions based upon physical or material conditions or circumstances. This is what being materialistic is all about. These are just appearances and are superficial, lacking in depth of any kind of understanding.
We need to cleanse our Minds of ideas and thoughts of separation, whether they be ideas that separate us from one another or from our experiences. These are the things that divide us. Once divided, conflict is created.
Embrace equality. Throw out all beliefs and ideas of greater than or lessor than. Looking up to someone is to diminish appreciation of ourselves and our Worth. Looking down on someone is to falsely exalt ourselves at the expense of another. Both are perspectives of separation.
As I’ve shared before, experience has gifted me with Unity Awareness. It’s in my head and heart at all times. Can’t get rid of it, though many years ago I tried. I can literally see in my Mind’s eye, the causes that are being put into motion that have resulted in the effects we are now experiencing and observing. It’s not “I think” or “I believe”. It’s “I know”. It’s what gives me the insight into what needs to change, from what to what.
Consciousness is shifting. I am just one drop in a giant wave that is coming in. The way we can survive it is together. Many are feeling left behind and see no place in our World for people like them. They are scared and feeling threatened. To alleviate this suffering, all it takes is to express recognition of their plight and being embraced in Compassion.
One of the people that calls me a friend fervently believes it is his second amendment right to call any black person the “n word” right in their face. It’s what he has been taught to believe and expects others to believe, too. In his late 50’s, it’s what he has lived his whole life believing. He’s not going to change. He simply doesn’t Understand what all the fuss is about and feels persecuted for his beliefs. So I accept him as he is and tell him that I understand. It’s that easy to embrace someone, anyone, in Compassion.
It’s like I was telling my daughter-in-law. At first, she thought I was crazy. We were discussing Trump. I told her that he was taught a way to live a long time ago and has lived that way all his life. So he’s not about to question those beliefs now or change. I also said that he likely would have been diagnosed as ADD or ADHD if he had been born now a days. Being born when he was, before we knew of such things, he never received the help he needed as a child and we were looking at the result.
My daughter-in-law thought at first I liked him. So I went on to explain my dedication to being Understanding and Compassionate in the face of something I found abhorrent. I admit it was quite a stretch in being Accepting and Tolerant but that I saw it as an opportunity for my growth and expansion.
Understanding what is already understood is no feat of character. Tolerating the tolerable is no feat of character. Accepting what is acceptable is no feat of character. But to go beyond that, Is.
Whilst I’m all for ‘opening doors ‘ – I am drawn to consider the role of the gate keeper .A role that many people in society seem to be adopting ,whilst claiming to ‘help’ other.
At this time becoming our own conscious gatekeeper would seem to be the greater challenge.
It’s just too easy to become distracted by the illusion that ‘other ‘creates .