By Amanda Painter

Sometimes the news just hands you an illustration of the astrology on a silver platter — which is what just happened to me yesterday. We’re coming up on the Scorpio Full Moon early Friday, which I’ll describe in a moment. But there’s another aspect happening at roughly the same time, and that’s the one that grabbed my attention via the news.

Section of chart for the Scorpio Full Moon. Shown, L-R: Nessus, Neptune, lunar South Node and Chiron in Pisces; Ceres, Venus, Uranus and Eris in Aries; Sun, Vesta and Mercury in Taurus. The Moon, not shown, is in Scorpio exactly opposite the Sun.

I’ll start with that story: Yesterday the U.S. Treasury announced that Harriet Tubman, African-American heroine of the Underground Railroad, would be replacing former president (and slave owner) Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.

Additionally, five women will grace the back of the $10 bill. (Treasury secretary Jacob Lew had promised to put a woman on the face of the $10 bill also, but walked that commitment back, apparently due to the popularity of the Broadway musical Hamilton.)

The only other U.S. currency to feature women in the last 100 years have been the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin, and the Sacagawea dollar coin — neither of which have been popular in everyday use. The only woman on a piece of paper currency was Martha Washington on $1 silver certificates for three separate years in the late 1800s.

I wrote more about the context of this decision yesterday on Planet Waves, but the point I want to make here is that this is a historic change to what is essentially a symbol of national identity: our currency. Granted, changes to currency are made often, and many men have been featured on U.S. bills — but you can count the women honored that way so far on one hand.

So what’s the astrology involved? For starters, The Sun entered Taurus, sign of material wealth and resources from the earth, on Tuesday (the day before the Treasury’s announcement). Taurus is ruled by Venus, who not only stands for the feminine principle, love and receptivity in astrology, but also MONEY.

Now, here’s where things get really fun: Venus is within tickling distance of conjunctions to Uranus (exact Friday at 5:00 pm EDT / 21:00 UTC) and Eris (exact Sunday at 5:55 am EDT / 9:55 UTC) in Aries. Eric Francis has been describing the Uranus-Eris conjunction in Aries as a cultural and personal spark to the process of identity unification and individuation, in the midst of modern identity chaos (which is being exacerbated to new levels by the Internet).

Uranus is inventive, revolutionary and often surprising. Eris can act as a subversive or chaotic agent; yet it can also indicate in a person’s chart an unusual level of cohesion in their sense of self, when working positively. So this announcement from the U.S. Treasury makes for a perfect illustration of some cultural identity integration, moved forward by a positive expression of feminism (an online campaign spearheaded by two women) and enacted through a surprising re-imagination of our money.

Granted, it’s only the beginning of a process that still has far to go, in terms of valuing and giving voice to women and minorities — both historically speaking and in current day-to-day life. But in a culture as obsessed with material gain, status symbols and cash as the U.S. is, having women on our paper currency is a level of visibility and indication of worth that has significance.

Now, as mentioned, Venus is cruising through the Uranus-Eris conjunction in Aries nearly in tandem with the Scorpio Full Moon. That is the Sun in early Taurus opposed by the Moon in early Scorpio.

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Scorpio Full Moons are known to evoke passion — especially of the sexual and emotionally compelling kind. Yet Taurus and Scorpio are both ‘fixed’ signs, indicating the potential for a situation or relationship in your life (represented by the Sun and Moon) to feel a little ‘stuck’ or polarized. At least temporarily, until after the Full Moon peaks, which is just before 1:24 am EDT Friday morning (5:24 UTC).

Yet despite the reputations of Scorpio and Taurus to get entrenched at times, these are also two signs that are highly tuned in to the nexus where emotions and physical senses meet. Translation: passion is paramount during a Scorpio Full Moon.

So if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em in bed; or in a fragrant flower garden; or in eating a great meal; or in listening to emotional, texturally rich music; or in walking barefoot in the grass; or in touching silky, velvety fabrics; or in watching the stars under cover of darkness. Let your passion guide you around perceived blocks when possible, rather than inflaming conflict, if possible.

Sometimes waiting out a confrontation creatively is wiser than engaging in a full-frontal assault or defensiveness. And sometimes engaging your passion can lead to things like getting women on U.S. currency — or feeling more whole.