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Astrological forecast for Sun in Aquarius
Jan 20 through Feb 19
by our reluctant shaman
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This is arguably the busiest astrological month of the year, and one of the most scattered and potentially fractious in recent memory. For the clueless, an image might be of putting a car into "Drive" and "Reverse" at the same time, while finding themselves sliding sideways. For the clueful, with our hands firmly on our own steering wheel, it could be quite an exhilarating joyride unlike most any other.
Simply put, buckle up.
I'd be saying these things about this month even if the Chariot (Mercury) card of the tarot wasn't being held up for examination. The overriding feel will be dominated by yet another Mercury retrograde, starting officially on January 28, and lasting until February 19. It will only seem much longer if we're relying on others to be the chauffeurs of our own vehicles.
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This next paragraph might seem a bit dizzying, but I'll try to explain what it all means in the rest of this forecast, as if that's at all possible... yikes!
The Sun enters Aquarius on the 20 th , Jupiter exactly trines a retrograde Saturn on the 21 st , there's a Leo Full Moon on the 22 nd as Mercury moves direct over Neptune, Pallas Athene swings past Prometheus (Uranus) the 23 rd , Venus conjoins Pluto on the 24 th and moves into Capricorn an hour later, Pluto moves into Capricorn for the first time since the late 1770's on the 25 th , Mercury turns retrograde on the 28 th , a retrograde Mars stations direct on the 30 th , Venus conjoins Jupiter February 1, Mercury moves retrograde over Neptune on February 2, Mardi Gras is the 5 th as the Sun transits Chiron, Mercury moves retrograde over the Sun on Ash Wednesday the 6 th about nine hours before an Aquarian (annular) Solar eclipse, Mercury moves retrograde over Chiron at the Chinese New Year on the 7 th about seven hours after the eclipse, the Sun transits Neptune on the 10 th , Venus inconjuncts Mars on the 13 th (the day before Valentine's Day - eegs!), Venus moves into Aquarius the 17 th , retrograde Mercury stations direct on the 18 th , the Sun moves into Pisces the next day, and the 20 th is a total Lunar eclipse in Virgo.
Phew! Got it? There will be a test...
Actually, there will be many tests - tests of our nerves, emotions, wills, consciences, perseverance, patience, stamina, and graciousness. Lord and Lady, have mercy upon us all.
The Chariot card is ideally about forward motion, with the hopes that we're heading in a reasonably predictable direction toward breakthroughs of some sort, but it might be more important and revealing to remember that the Lovers card was flipped over last month, reminding us that without the purest intentions of love (of Self, and everything else), all can be lost. Moving with the changes is always the correct course to follow, but we might not be able to see the proper road until it shows up right in front of us.
If we can keep our wits about us, by utilizing our birthrights of free-will and imagination to safely maneuver the upcoming shifts and changes, we should be all set. Our exalted "best" side will be coming through and help to spin the wheels of change in ways that can seem downright giddy at times. Within that laughter will be an occasional gem of eternal wisdom if we're keeping our third eyes open to wonderful new concepts and possibilities. Please give a smile and a kind word out to the Muggles - they'll be coping the best they can - forward, backward, sideways, upside down.
Aquarius is a fixed Air sign, and if you can't wrap your brain around the concept of seemingly solid air, you wouldn't be alone, but this is one aspect of what Aquarius is all about - making outlandish concepts concrete if we're willing and able to. Air is for ideas, communicating, and meditating on larger concepts, and Mercury will be moving retrograde fully within Aquarius this month, opening our minds to unconventional approaches to our many challenges. Prometheus (Uranus) rules Aquarius, so we'll all be gaining some insight as to what the rest of 2008 can offer. The prevailing "air" of 2008 is that change will be all around us as Saturn moves into his first of four exact oppositions with Prometheus later in the year.
One of the risks this month will be to fear the inevitable changes that are coming, but only if we're staying stuck in the failures of the past couple of years, decade, or even the past 40 years for that matter. It's not necessarily a question of "sink or swim," more like a case of "evolve, or risk becoming an endangered species." Draconian imagery along these lines will be prevalent, but so will the clues for how to prevent and fix them. We won't be able to avoid or ignore the fear-mongers' prognostications of doom and gloom, but within their noise will be opportunities to transform it all into "boom and zoom" as Rob Brezsny puts it so wonderfully in his "Pronoia is the Antidote for Paranoia, How the Whole World is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings" (Frog, Ltd. 2005). The clues will be everywhere in February for those of us who have a stake in helping create a better world in the immediate future, in the next few years before 2012 arrives.
In particular, Mercury retrograde (and back and forth) over Neptune and Chiron will provide ideal opportunities to reexamine the spiritual (Neptune) pains (Chiron) suffered in the past two years during the Saturn/Neptune oppositions. Conversely, the same opportunities will be presented to heal (Chiron) and solidify (Aquarius) whatever spiritual concepts (Neptune in Aquarius) we've previously been constricted by (Saturn as the Good Professor), if we haven't already.
The Saturn/Neptune oppositions of 2006 - 2007 are a thing of the past, a process ideally focused on purifying our connections with our own inner Divinity, showing us the dangers of extremism, and moving away from the "me" consciousness to open up to the "we" paradigm that will be the focus of 2008 and beyond. Any activity that includes formulating beneficial concepts for the collective consciousness at this time is a major step in the right direction.
The eclipses of February spotlight Saturn's shifting opposition energetic, away from Neptune of the past, and toward Prometheus later this year (and well into 2011). The annular Solar eclipse of February 6 won't be a stunning visual event for anyone, but will have a subtle message behind it as seen with the Sabian symbol* for 18° Aquarius; "A man's secret motives are being publicly unmasked." This may easily refer to a public figure caught in a scandal of some sort, but speaks more to how we as individuals have been true to ourselves or not. Happening during a Mercury retrograde, we might expect to see an instant karma moment for those of us not living our truths, or for those of us unwilling to live within the integrity of our Source. Even if we're being completely integrous with our true selves, an instant karma moment might lead to epiphanies of previously unimagined concepts and courses of action to take. The Solar eclipse on the 6 th (a New Moon on steroids) would therefore be a perfect time to meditate on what still needs to be unmasked, and/or to ritualize on such new beginnings
The total Lunar eclipse of February 20 (2° Virgo) should be quite a visual stunner as Saturn will be the "star" just to the East (to the left) of the eclipsed Moon at exact (10:30 PM EST). As the Moon moves out of the Earth's shadow, Lady Luna will be welcoming us to join in on the Good Professor's syllabus for the rest of the year. Dane Rudhyar's* keynote for 2° Virgo is "a liberating ordeal" that (I paraphrase) arises from a symbolic sacrifice of our individual egos for the betterment of the collective consciousness. The word "liberating" would fit for the Moon as She emerges from out of Earth's shadow, representing how we as a collective planet and species have been literally and figuratively blocking everything the Divine She represents, the aspects of love, harmony, and cooperation that our world so desperately needs. The word "ordeal" would fit for Saturn if we consider him to be the "Great Malefic" (bad guy) of old school fatalistic astrology, but if we can learn the lessons he's been teaching us over the years about misplaced authority, he'll be the Good Professor for us.
By using the term "misplaced authority," I mean that we as individuals have too frequently surrendered our free-wills to various authority figures who don't always have our best interests in mind. "They" may be a dysfunctional personal relationship, political figure or pundit, greedy business persons and their unethical practices, and/or the entertainment industry as a hole, I mean "whole." Either (and all) of these individuals or institutions will suck our vital life force from us by keeping us in fear, but only if we allow them to. Our individual sovereignty - having our own hands on the steering wheel of our own vehicles - is essential to reclaim if we want to maneuver the upcoming changes successfully. And then, if we want to become agents for positive social change, we will have become our own best authority figure.
This is what the Moon and Saturn will be showing us at the eclipse of February 20. Mercury and Mars will be within their respective retrograde shadows at that time, asking us to reflect on how we've been thinking (Mercury) and acting (Mars) over the past three weeks (Mercury retrograde) and past three months (Mars retrograde). And a retrograde Saturn will be asking us how we as individuals (and we as a species) have been blocking the creative aspects of love, harmony and cooperation as the Moon emerges from the shadow we have cast over it. Unmask that beast and win a prize.
With all the stuff we'll have to deal with in the previous thirty days, we should have plenty to think (Mercury retrograde) about. Even NASA is getting into the act, sending their Messenger probe to Mercury in this "year of using our imaginations." Hmmm...
* The Sabian symbols, from Dane Rudhyar's "An Astrological Mandala."
See the Capricorn Forecast here
See the Sagittarius Forecast here
See the Scorpio Forecast here
