Tag Archives: Mercury

Chiron in Aries: Where to Start?

By Amanda Painter

Now that the Mars-Uranus conjunction is beginning to separate, it may feel easier to look ahead to the next major astrological event: Chiron entering Aries on Monday, where it will stay for the next seven years or so. Also on Monday, the Sun will enter Pisces, the last sign in the cycle. So Chiron begins its new zodiacal ‘year’ (metaphorically speaking) just as the Sun begins to wrap up its own.

On Dec. 19 and 20, 2004, the Mars Opportunity rover used its panoramic camera to take the images combined into this mosaic view of itself. During Chiron in Aries, curiosity about, and willingness to explore, who you are may be a good starting place. Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell

Dec. 19-20, 2004, the Mars Opportunity rover used its panoramic camera to take the images combined into this mosaic of itself. Chiron in Aries should provide ample opportunities to explore who you are. On Wednesday NASA announced the rover had stopped operating after nearly 15 years. Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell

Between the significant themes that Chiron in Aries will be highlighting, the Sun entering Pisces, and some of the interesting specifics of Monday’s chart, I’m having a little trouble deciding where to start as I write this.

So I think I’ll start with this: Chiron last visited Aries for a brief five-month stay on April 17, 2018; it retrograded back into Pisces on Sept. 25, 2018. Those five months were not that long ago, even if they feel a world away to you now, thanks to a long series of overlapping inner-planet retrogrades (starring Mars) and a couple of eclipses in the mix last summer.

You might find it worthwhile to check your journal or calendar (or similar) to see what exactly was happening for you in mid-April. (This April 15, 2018, Planet Waves essay is worth re-reading, too.)

What you discover could offer some clues to what Chiron will nudge you to begin paying attention to in earnest. While many planets have moved quite a distance from where they were in April, some of the slower ones have not moved far at all. So we’re not going to get a do-over a la Groundhog Day, but there may be some useful echoes.

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Working Your Edge: Mars and Uranus

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By Amanda Painter

As has been mentioned elsewhere — and as you’ve probably been feeling — we’re in a rather ‘edgy’ phase of astrology. This could be coming through several ways — such as needing to express something but never getting the right opportunity; or waiting for key information that feels like it will never arrive; or wanting to get moving with a plan or project but seeing no clear path forward. You can probably describe your own version of it — then again, perhaps struggling to identify and articulate what’s going on for you is a primary factor in the sensation (or maybe it’s just not that strong for you).

Photo by Amanda Painter.

We can look to Chiron in the last degree of Pisces and Uranus in the last degree of Aries as the prime suspects for the edginess. To a lesser extent, the asteroid Pallas, in the last degree of Libra, is surely contributing to this overall atmosphere.

Really, though, slow-moving Chiron and Uranus are calling the tune. Chiron will be the first to make its move, entering Aries in just a week and a half, on Feb. 18. Uranus will enter Taurus on March 6. Yet I suspect it may be Uranus that’s generating the stronger buzz right now.

Mainly that’s because Mars is sidling up to it. The Mars-Uranus conjunction won’t be exact until Feb. 13 — almost a week from now. But these are two high-voltage planets in a fiery sign where Mars is strong — and Mars aspects often have a way of making themselves known well in advance of when they’re exact.

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Thinking Forward, Crossing a Threshold

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By Amanda Painter

How are you feeling now that we’ve exited The Eclipse Zone? Or, perhaps I should ask: how are you thinking, and what are you thinking (and communicating) about? I ask, because this morning Mercury leaves Capricorn and enters Aquarius — which means that it steps into the position the Sun just held during the lunar eclipse that began the week.

Collection of heart-shaped rocks outside the window, electronics collection inside the window; Stromness, Orkney, Scotland. Photo by Amanda Painter.

Collection of heart-shaped rocks outside the window, electronics collection inside the window; Orkney, Scotland. Photo by Amanda Painter.

Not only does this ring the bell of the eclipse degree, it also activates all the same slow-moving minor planets and points that were part of the eclipse aspect pattern (you can review them here).

Are you noticing a more intellectual angle to a subject that was speaking to you on a more emotional or unconscious level a few days ago, or which you found yourself expressing outwardly in some other way? I don’t know for sure that this is how Mercury’s activation of the eclipse territory will manifest, but it’s an idea worth playing with today.

That said, note that Mercury is moving fairly quickly right now; it’s going to breeze through the eclipse degree over the course of today. Taking notes on what enters your awareness might be useful.

We also have a few elements in the astrological landscape that appear to offer useful energy for moving forward with whatever the eclipses brought into view. For one, Mars in Aries is making a trine to Jupiter in Sagittarius (exact tomorrow).

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Making Your Moves: Leo Full Moon and Eclipse

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By Amanda Painter

We’re entering the home stretch of the current eclipse season: on Monday, Jan. 21 (Jan. 20 in some time zones), we’ll get the Leo Full Moon and a total lunar eclipse. This occurs one day after the Sun enters Aquarius — which happens at 3:59 am EST (8:59:25 UTC) on Jan. 20.

Lunar eclipse between the statues of Hera and Apollo in Athens, Greece, July 27, 2018. Photo by Aris Messins

Lunar eclipse between the statues of Hera and Apollo in Athens, Greece, on July 27, 2018. Monday’s event will be visible from North and South America, Europe and western Africa. Central and eastern Africa and Asia will see a partial eclipse of the Moon. Photo by Aris Messins

So there will be a shift in tone accompanying this event — fitting enough, given the way modern astrology views eclipses as times for releasing what has run its course and for moving into a new pattern or toward a new phase of development.

This is also the last eclipse on the Leo-Aquarius axis for the time being. In whatever way it relates to the eclipses of this past summer for you, there may be a sense of closing a chapter or springboarding into new territory.

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Approaching the Capricorn New Moon and Eclipse

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By Amanda Painter

Happy New Year! Even though most people try to set their New Year’s resolutions and intentions by Jan. 1, the astrology this year is clearly indicating a wider window for this process — and for beginning to take active steps in accordance. The major event with this theme is Saturday’s New Moon in Capricorn, which also happens to be a partial solar eclipse.

As we go deeper into this most unusual and challenging phase of history, intelligence is the thing we need the most. That is the theme of the 2019-2020 annual edition of Planet Waves — audio now available for instant access. See more information here. If you’re looking for individual signs, order here.

This New Moon — a conjunction of the Sun and Moon — is exact at 8:28 pm EST on Jan. 5 (1:28:05 UTC Jan. 6). The peak of the partial solar eclipse is about 13 minutes later.

One notable feature of this event is that it occurs right at the midpoint of Capricorn; and, incidentally, very close to the midpoint of the current positions of Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn (those planets are about three-and-a-half to five-and-a-half degrees on either side). This looks like some real “engine of change” astrology based on that proximity alone; I’m also wondering if it carries some foreshadowing or early echoes of the 2020 Saturn-Pluto conjunction.

From what I’ve read about Saturn-Pluto conjunctions, I suspect one message of this New Moon and eclipse is to begin really focusing your energies: on your highest priorities, or perhaps on anything that seems to be restricted. As in, if something in your life feels narrowed or limited, what is your attention being trained on? What does it mean to be very thorough within certain parameters, as opposed to trying to ‘do it all’ in a more dispersed fashion?

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A Full-Moon Pholus on the Solstice

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By Amanda Painter

As you likely already know, late tomorrow the Sun enters Capricorn for the solstice. The next day, we get a potent-looking Cancer Full Moon. So we’re about to enter a moment of (possibly) heightened emotions, layered on top of cultural holiday busy-ness, layered on top of a seasonal point of contraction and interiority, all nestled into the personal-is-political Aries Point — with a twist.

Photo by Amanda Painter

These are days to keep a finger on the pulse of how you’re feeling.

What catches your attention as a possible synchronicity or as having meaning, and what (or who) starts to trigger your reactivity? Are you going along with the crowd because it’s expected or you’ve ‘always done this’, or is a small, inner voice whispering something about needing to spend a little time differently this year?

To help you get your bearings, here’s the timing of the main astro events: on Friday, Dec. 21, the Sun enters Capricorn at 5:23 pm EST (22:22:37 UTC), immediately making a conjunction to the centaur Pholus (technically exact the next day). That’s the “twist” I mentioned, and I’ll come back to it in a moment.

At 11:28 am EST (16:27:54 UTC) on Saturday, Dec. 22, the Moon ingresses Cancer. Then, just over an hour later at 12:48 pm EST (17:48:29 UTC), the Cancer Moon and Capricorn Sun oppose each other.

With a Full Moon in the very first degree of Cancer, we’re ringing the bell of the Aries Point pretty strongly (the Aries Point is the first degree of Aries, which resonates with the first degree of all the cardinal signs: Aries, Cancer, Libra and Cap). I know many people don’t pay as much attention to the news on the weekends, though with social media interaction it still may enter your awareness. Even so, you might want to pay attention to it over the next few days.

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A Mercury Station, a New Moon, and You Are Enough

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By Amanda Painter

Often misworded, the quotation “Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are” is also overwhelmingly misattributed to Theodore Roosevelt (Teddy did not come up with it; he quotes it in his autobiography, and attributes it to one Squire Bill Widener of Widener’s Valley, Virginia). Be that as it may, it struck me as perhaps a useful mantra for the current astrology as we head into the weekend. With Mercury stationing direct today, a New Moon in Sagittarius tomorrow, and various other planets interacting with those two events, you might be feeling a mix of push-pull on the one hand, and a lull in energy on the other hand.

Rocking chairs at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine. Photo by Amanda Painter.

If that’s the case, I suspect it would be useful to stay in touch with your actual circumstances, resources and honest desires. I’m not only referring to the seeming ‘limitations’ of What Is, but also to something that you may sometimes push aside or not believe: your inherent enough-ness; that is, the fact that you are enough, as you are right now.

But, I get ahead of myself. Let’s go over the astrology in a little more detail.

As mentioned, Mercury stations direct in late Scorpio today at 4:22 pm EST (21:21:59 UTC). I don’t know about you, but the last few weeks (most of which Mercury spent in Sagittarius) seem to have been marked by a number of interesting things coming to light — both in the public/political realm, and also in my personal life.

Given that Scorpio is the sign of secrets (among other things), I’m very curious to witness what shakes out as it stations direct today. See if you can keep your awareness tuned to that sense of something being revealed, and make a note of what you discover.

Tomorrow, at 2:20 am EST (7:20:15 UTC), the Sagittarius Moon and Sun form their conjunction for the month, for the New Moon. They do so conjunct a deep-space phenomenon called the Great Attractor (you can read more about that here) and square Mars and Neptune in Pisces.

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Of Restlessness, Retrogrades, and Choices

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By Amanda Painter

How is this Mercury retrograde going for you? We only have about a week of it left (not counting a few days for things to shake back into place after it stations direct on Dec. 6); so hang in there. Personally, I feel like some of the other current astrology is contributing more to a sense of restlessness; but really it’s all part of the same environment, so it’s hard to say for sure.

Photo by Amanda Painter.

For one thing, we have several objects in the last degree of their respective signs, or about to be. In zodiac order, these include: retrograde Uranus in Aries, Venus in Libra, Mercury about to retrograde into late Scorpio, Pholus in Sagittarius, and Vesta in Capricorn.

Planets in the last (or ‘anaretic’) degree of a sign are often said to feel a little edgy; kind of like how we human beings can get a little edgy in anticipation of a big transition in our lives. Add in that some of those planets are making oppositions or squares to each other — aspects of tension — and the restlessness factor increases.

Plus, we have the Sun in the last sign of a season (Sagittarius), the civil-calendar year is almost over, and Mercury is retrograde in a sign that’s partly about forward intention (in a long series of inner-planet retrogrades this year). The sky seems to be reflecting a general sense of just wanting to get on with it — whatever ‘it’ might be.

So we end up with some questions. What absolutely ought to wait till Mercury’s direct, so that you don’t make more work for yourself than is warranted? What must you address or take steps toward so you can channel this energy creatively, rather than repressing it in unproductive ways?

What can you get started on — such as research, preparation, getting organized, making repairs, reviewing your progress — that might put you in a much better position to take bigger steps in the near future? What’s the different between being wisely cautious and giving in to crippling self-doubt or paranoia?

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