Good morning London, good morning America and thanks to my friends for covering this column the past few Sundays while I traveled. I told a bit about my trip to Wolfville, Nova Scotia in last week’s Planet Waves FM.
Home in New York — the Coxing stream along the Grandmother Land, Ulster County, New York.
To recap the past few days, the New Moon was this past Friday, and Venus conjunct the Sun — the midpoint of Venus retrograde — was Saturday. Venus stations direct in Leo on Sept. 6. Mercury stations retrograde on Sept. 17, 11 days later.
The Virgo Moon is opposite Chiron in Pisces early Sunday evening (exact at 8:47 pm EDT or Monday at 00:19 UTC). Don’t let emotional intensity run away with you — in fact it might be a good time to question that whole concept, intense. Moon opposite Chiron would qualify — it has that feeling of a stretch that’s at the heart of the word. So the question is, what was or is the stretch?
The chart suggests that some kind of emotional standoff may have come to a head, but that the issues are either overblown or a stand-in for something else. In other words, you may be upset for a reason other than the one you think. My read on the chart is that this is an issue of feeling under-nourished; the Moon is applying to Ceres in Capricorn, which feels a bit austere.
It will probably help to address the theme of nourishment, and then get your feelings out, or to invite a partner to do so. For example, does someone feel like they’re not being taken care of? Has someone put skim milk in your tea instead of cream, even though they know you don’t like it? Or are other things making you notice that?
There’s a lot of Virgo happening right now — Jupiter has just ingressed, it’s conjunct a scratchy point called Transpluto, and as well, the Moon is there (and talking to Chiron, which is a Virgo influence). The question of Jupiter in Virgo is: where does the healing energy need to go? I’ll be developing that theme this week on Planet Waves FM and elsewhere.
The Leo birthday reading is also beautiful for those with Leo Moon and rising. My readings are an excellent way to experience how astrology — and an astrologer — can help you.
Meanwhile, the Sun is in the last degrees of Leo. It will ingress Virgo next Sunday, Aug. 23. I don’t mean to rush things here. I’ve just come out with my Leo reading (an elegant meditation on your astrology, good for Leo as Sun, Moon or rising sign).
There’s a challenging aspect in the form of the Sun about to make a square to Saturn at the end of the week; this is not exactly a relaxing aspect, in that it can put pressure on you to get things done, and to push your way through any stuck points. With Saturn, pushing is less likely to work than persistence. The thing with persistence is that you might feel you’re not getting anyplace. But that is unlikely to be true; you may not, however, be able to track your progress easily at this stage.
There is still one more week of Leo time and school doesn’t start for a little while. We are, however, past Midsummer holiday (called First Harvest or Second Planting; that was last week as well) and the days are noticeably shorter in the Northern Hemisphere. That’s an invitation to take advantage of the warmth and sunlight while it lasts. This is true even if you have a lot to do.
What haven’t you done that you’ve wanted to? You might try to do two of the things on your list. You might be able to do them in modest form, or take the plunge and do them in style. Before he retired, I would chat with a guy named John Tobin, who was the chief assistant district attorney for my county; there’s a coffee shop one street down from me across from the courthouse. You never know who will turn up there.
He offered me the suggestion that “there’s never a good time to take a vacation,” meaning, just do it. Second, at some point he figured out that the best way to deal with the stack of phone messages was to ignore them and let people call back. Of course he was at the top of the DA’s office, not an astrologer — I plan to be returning calls and emails from my clients this week.
“The chart suggests that some kind of emotional standoff may have come to a head, but that the issues are either overblown or a stand-in for something else. In other words, you may be upset for a reason other than the one you think. My read on the chart is that this is an issue of feeling under-nourished; the Moon is applying to Ceres in Capricorn, which feels a bit austere.
“It will probably help to address the theme of nourishment, and then get your feelings out, or to invite a partner to do so.”
hmmmmm….I think maybe I witnessed something like this in a couple different ways today; although one of the ways was heard second-hand, it still seems to fit the general shape of things. I appreciate the re-framing/re-directing toward the question of nourishment, or someone feeling not cared for / supported.
I am experiencing something like this exactly. Through someone’s comment of “why bother”. It is expressing uncaring and their lack of offering nourishment in relationship. It hurts, but in retropect I see it speaks more about their personal feelings and values, than it’s projection on me.
I was in a work environment that was less than nourishing, to say the least. This morning I called, and quit. Then, I had a second interview at a restaurant where nourishment will be at the root of everything, among the staff, guests, and in the food. I landed the job. Nourishment, nourishment, nourishment.
I found myself writing in my journal yesterday that I wanted to find out where my life is nourishing me, and where it isn’t. It’s the first time I’ve phrased it like that to myself. I understood that I can choose what I let into my life, and feel – intuit – if it is good for me or not. So your thoughts on Moon vs Chiron and the nourishing aspect is right on, Eric. I even asked myself how I could start nourishing myself beyond the element of food! When I say nourishment, I mean, what sustains me in my life? Where am ‘I’ in my life? I feel like I have been accepting of too much of what society/parents etc claims is what is good for me, and not questioning myself on if it is true for me. I think the Chiron aspect / stretchy feeling might be identifying what is true for me especially in regards to my mother. It has to do with how I’ve accepted what my mother said and did without really thinking about her beliefs and questioning how she lived her life. I’m starting to question how I adopted her beliefs and how she nurtured herself and us – with food – and how they no longer feel right for me at this time in my life.
Love reading your insights Eric! Is it possible to be feeling this aspect up to two weeks before this opposition? Last week through yesterday seems everyone I know including myself stretched too thin, on.ones last nerve, at the breaking point like a rubber band about to snap. Some relief today al around .but in my case it’s a bunch of stuff breaking that I don’t have the freaking time to deal with! Here it could be a response to the intense heat wave and with no rain. 106 and 104 with heat indices of 115 all last week (Texas). Would love for someone to weigh in. Thks. Candice
Here in WA State we’ve been on fire watch since early July, making those of us with PTSD (which I think started for me during the Cuban Missile Crisis), more hyper-vigilant than usual. Constantly prioritizing what you will have to carry in the event of a sudden evacuation has been stressful to say the least, but also has given perspective to the incredible amounts of petty bullshit that we download and absorb daily…present company excluded.
Candice, you’re right about the heat, it seems to be baking our brains, yes?
Thanks Deborah, Yes, I’ve been seeing the fires rage all up and down the coast from California to Washington and it is disturbing and exhausting to be hyper vigilant. That does something to you. We have hurricanes here. Guess it relates to being nourished in that you take a good look at what feeds you, sustains you, and leave the rest behind.