Astrological Insights

As 2020 comes to a close, may we take time during the Holydays to reflect upon the tremendous change our cosmos, humanity and each one of us individually is experiencing. It is the end of a Grand Cycle when one world must end and a Grand New Beginning with another reborn. No one ever said that living here on our beloved planet Earth and being present during these times was going to be easy.

At this late summer, harvest point in the year Astrologically speaking we have come through a Venus and Mercury retrograde - both are now moving forward. Welcome shifts of forward momentum whilst Mars has slowed down and is warming up for the coming retrograde, a two-month stint from September 9th. To have Mars, Venus and Mercury all going retrograde in the same year is a lot, and is rare, but 2020 is a rather extra-ordinary cosmologically active year with significant planetary cycles ending and new ones beginning.

We are in a huge reset time on this planet. All the big hitters have been and still are in retrograde during most of this year; from Jupiter all the way to Sedna. Five of these six planets are in the earth signs of Capricorn and Taurus. As you well know, these planets take their time and move very slow. With all of them retro at the same time, we are globally in a state where we feel raked over hot coals, soul searching and reincarnating new versions of ourselves, the way we interact with each other, and the world in which we live. Though it is true that this is not an easy road to traverse, as we are thrown into unfamiliar circumstances with the unknown in some form, at our doorstep daily, it is also true that we are in a very exciting time in the history of our evolution.

One of the most challenging aspects of unabashedly embracing the astrological worldview, as I have for at least the past 25 years, is that it requires one to abandon a perspective that has been firmly embedded within Western culture for at least a century or more – that of the scientific paradigm, which posits that human beings inhabit a universe in which our existence as a species has no particular significance, and that our individual destinies, as members of that selective group of highly-evolved mammals, are dependent upon the concatenation of purely random factors – and likewise without meaning or purpose. It is an extraordinarily bleak lens through which to regard the nature of reality, and one which provides cold comfort where we are confronted with the harsh vicissitudes of survival on this small verdant globe which we call home, such as the majority of the population is now subject to in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is incredibly profound the absolute polarity we are experiencing at this time. What we are expected to do vs. what we are actually accomplishing as a collective right now seem at odds. The season of Wood is supposed to be a time of growth and freshening. When here we are, fermenting in self-quarantine instead. However, do not take this time for granted as the value of fermentation should not be overlooked. For it is our bacterial friends that can happily assist us in these trying and uncertain times. With the current focus on the pandemic and how we might be able to defeat it, one of the most important things is assisting our immune systems in very specific ways.

As we traverse the Astrological time of February and March, we reflect upon the ending of winter, the time of Pisces (February 19 – March 20), bridging to the Vernal Equinox (March 19th – 20th), the beginning of Springtime in the Northern Hemisphere, and the beginning of the Astrological New Year, with the Aires New Moon commencing on March 24th.

This New Year of 2020 marks a pivotal change for our home planet Earth, as well as our Cosmic reality, marking the end of an era and the initiation of a new era filled with golden opportunities. What will that new era be? What will we manifest through our consciousness for ourselves, our communities and our humanity for 2020? In Numerology, 2019 was represented by a 3-year, bringing us challenges, growth and change. For 2020, the base number is 4, offering us the same work as 2019, yet bringing what we focus on as manifest.

As I write this December astrological contribution for the Acutonics newsletter we have been experiencing some substantial planetary synodic cycles during the course of November - round ups, repeats, returns and renewals. Mercury turned direct on the 20th November having been retrograde for the previous two weeks in Scorpio, trawling and hauling all manner of things from the dark and deep for re-consideration, re-flection.

Aloha! Thank you for joining me this month to explore November’s astrological weather. In this newsletter contribution I address some key planetary, solar and lunar aspects to consider and utilize in personal and private practice. For clarity, I use the Tropical Zodiac to discuss these aspects. However, I also recommend doing some star and planet gazing in the early morning (Mars) and late evening (Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn) as all of the visible planets will be easily found with the naked eye at the beginning of this month.

On the day of our Fall Equinox, in the Northern Hemisphere, September 23, our Sun moved from Earthly Virgo to Airy Libra, the astrological sign signified by the balancing of scales. With our Sun in Libra, ruled by the planet Venus, we shift our focus to creating balance in our relationships and our need for healthy connection to self and others. When we think of Venus, may we be reminded of Love, Beauty and Harmony, expanding our hearts to explore deeper levels of self-love, romantic love and divine love. With the Sun in Libra, treatment strategies throughout the month include balancing and grounding! Think Venus/Mars 5th for balancing the Chakras, the appropriate Extraordinary Vessels, the Three Treasures as well as the Huato Jiaji and Baliao.