Adjoining signs tend to differ. Often the contrast is rather sharp. That’s one reason the Sun, Moon or a planet changing signs is considered to have significance. As contiguous signs go, however, Virgo and Libra exhibit at least the capacity to be relatively simpatico with one another.
Maybe it’s because the rulers of Virgo (Mercury) and Libra (Venus) are the only two planets moving around the Sun inside Earth’s orbit. Another contributing factor could be how the mutable quality of earthy Virgo implies sympathy with the elemental air that distinguishes Libra from other cardinal signs.
Whatever the reason, the border (or cusp, as astrologers call it) between Virgo and Libra tends to feel like a wall less often than is the case with most adjacent signs. Given how there is a lot of activity developing along their boundary right now, the implicit compatibility between Virgo and Libra is a consideration when it comes to interpreting how astrological events will correlate with your inner and outer climate over the next several weeks. In fact, some of those events are about to commence.
Tomorrow, Venus will share the 28th degree of Virgo with Jupiter for an aspect astrologers call a conjunction. Then, on Monday, Venus will conjoin with Mercury in the very last degree of Virgo. Later Monday night (or early the next morning, depending on your time zone) Venus will move on to enter Libra less than 12 hours before Mercury pulls up short of the cusp, and begins its Virgo retrograde on Tuesday.
On Sept. 2, it will be Jupiter’s turn to receive a conjunction from Mercury (Mercury also conjoined Jupiter Aug. 22 in direct motion). Then, one week after its merger with Mercury in Virgo’s penultimate degree, Jupiter will follow Venus into Libra.
That’s a lot of activity taking place during a relatively short period of time, within a very narrow slice of the zodiac. In addition, the flurry of events on the Virgo-Libra cusp will be transpiring in the midst of not only Mercury’s retrograde, but also between eclipses involving the same general neighborhood.
In correspondence with all of the traffic where Virgo and Libra come together, you might well be advised to expect some changes in your external world. For example, any recent meteorological trends in your area of the world would seem to be subject to noticeable revision. The same tendency towards turnaround could also very possibly express in political, economic and social milieus.
As nearly always, the transitions taking place on the outside won’t matter as much as how you handle them on the inside. Given how the Mercury-Venus conjunction coming up will be their third and final meeting this year, you do have some previous experience that will let you know what sort of astrological weather to expect.
The first 2016 conjunction of Mercury and Venus took place in the middle of Taurus back on May 13, during Mercury’s immediately previous retrograde. After that, Venus moved on ahead while Mercury continued to backpedal. The resulting implication was a period of heart (Venus) ahead of mind (Mercury). The next get-together was when Mercury caught up with and passed Venus in the 6th degree of Leo, just over two months later (on July 16). After that, the indication was a period of mind leading the heart.
Now, with their last conjunction of 2016 coming up where Virgo (and Mercury’s direct motion) terminates, indications are that your feelings will once again be out ahead of your intellect. That’s not a bad prospect. In a world that sometimes seems heartless, allowing your heart to lead would make you the sort of leader we could all use more of. All that being said, putting your heart out there means getting involved with risk. Even the most ably compassionate leaders must balance that risk by taking care of themselves.
Our 12-sign Midyear Reading on forthcoming astrology, including Jupiter in Libra, is available for instant access. You can get all 12 signs for just $57, or choose your individual signs.
Fortunately, Planet Waves in general (and Eric specifically) has your back. With the innovative approach he has taken for his midyear readings (appropriately titled “Balance” — see the inset ad at right for sales links), Eric has formulated an appropriate and supportive way for you to encounter the transitional astrology now starting up.
Just as the subject of adjacent signs is coming to the fore, Eric is providing an antidote of sorts by taking the acknowledged compatibility of opposing signs as his guiding theme.
That way, regardless of whether you find the prevailing astrological climate during the remaining weeks of this season and the beginning of the next to be simpatico for you, there will be an alternative perspective available to keep you from hitting a wall. It’s the sort of parallax view that only a world-class astrologer can provide, at a time when (if there is anything to astrology at all) it is most likely to be useful.
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Hey Len, sometimes I do wonder about those two, Mercury and Venus. They never square each other or oppose each other, always being so close to each other and never straying too far from the Sun. Technically, they don’t have a cycle with each other though, not like any other two planets. They are in a category of their own, and as you observe, they emphasize either the feeling side of the Sun (consciousness) or the thinking side of the Sun.
Yet they do have cycles with the planets beyond their own orbits; Mars, Jupiter, etc., but it is the Sun itself that defines their function. You have given me a whole new perspective to explore Len, thank you! I’m a big fan of the Mercury-Mars cycle, and the Mercury Jupiter cycle, having observed their influence on events at their squares and what have you. Still, I haven’t considered the attachment to transiting Sun these two share as much as I should have.
In fact, I will be more observant of where Mercury and Venus fall in relation to Sun when studying future charts. The charts I am most curious about are for events rather than people, countries or even institutions. Even so, a greater influence coming from either mind or heart (or inner and outer for that matter) on consciousness in general would likely affect events as much as it would people, places and institutions. Maybe more so. Hmmm.
I just got an image of getting ready to receive company, you know, getting one’s home ready for guests. It’s something I don’t do a lot of but it IS getting to be that time of the year. Perhaps the back and forth movement of Mercury – and Venus too – has an effect like that on consciousness; one’s own and the global consciousness too. That business of crossing the threshold between Virgo (the inner or personal) and Libra (the outer or public) might pertain to the present retrograde of Mercury; stopping his direct motion just at the cusp between those signs and retracing his previous 15 Virgo degrees. That could indicate further preparation or a checking of the details before opening the front door to receive guests.
You are such a good teacher Len. Thank you for never disappointing me.
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