Willow's January 2008 Astro Perspective

January. Hmm. January.

Things have been feeling so crazed lately that I feel compelled to write a little something just to try to put things in perspective.

So basically, this month (and probably the whole year) is going to include some heavy relationship work. And I'm thinking it might not necessarily feel all that good while it's happening. Venus is quite busy this month with two squares (usually tense aspects - two very different energies "squaring off" that have to find some way to work together/get along), an opposition and a conjunction to Pluto in the final degree of Sagittarius. All in mutable signs, which means changes, changes, changes and adjustments all around, with barely a minute to catch our breath.

And all this is under the backdrop of the current Mars-Pluto opposition cycle, which began with the first exact opposition on Sept. 21, 2007, with Mars at 26 degrees Gemini and Pluto at 26 degrees Sagittarius (which is considered the Galactic Centre). Now we're going back over that territory, right back to September, with a Mars retrograde, and it's no joke. We're having to align our personal goals and identities, how we use our physical energy, our words, and even our thoughts in our day-day interactions with other people, with no-bullshit, evolve-or-die Pluto in Sagittarius. Any dishonest aspects of our social personas will be purged, voluntarily or forcefully (as is Pluto's way). Wherever we're out of alignment with our true, deep-down personal guiding philosophies while conducting our day-to-day lives will now come into (sometimes brutal) alignment. Gemini has a tendency to talk out of both sides of its mouth...to skirt over the deeper issues in an effort to keep things functioning somewhat amicably. But Pluto ain't having it anymore. Pluto in Sagittarius is out for the truth...right from our guts...and it can't freaking STAND all this friendly-friendly Gemini stuff. To Sagittarius, the way Gemini conducts itself - never quite taking a stand, keeping the conversation light and congenial - is a downright, despicable lie if it's skirting over the deeper issues of personal integrity and truth. Pluto can't stomach it anymore. Literally. No more hiding who we really are under a false social face.I've noticed people in this past month actually getting physically (Mars) sick when what they're saying or how they're interacting with people is out of alignment with how they actually feel or with what they actually KNOW is their personal truth. We just can't do it anymore. The going-along to get-along stuff is over. We're peeling away layers of social artifice, and it's not so comfortable. We're having to stand, raw and naked, in front of the people in our lives, and we're not even sure we'll recognize each other when all is said and done. That's why even our most seemingly mundane conversations are so loaded these days. Jokes aren't just jokes. There's something underlying them. The way we (seemingly innocuously) chat and gossip with people...well, it's as if those words are poison arrows now. Pluto just won't put up with it anymore. It's past its usefulness, and we can't physically stand it. Our bodies (Mars) are rebelling.

We're starting to see the underlying divisions among people...aspects of tribalism, religion, race, culture, class, sex, philosophy - all related to Sagittarius. No longer can we just interact on a surface level (Gemini) with this unresolved stuff festering underneath. No real, clean-slate equality can be generated when underneath, we're covering up our past or present allegiances. This is why there's a surge of religious fundamentalism (in all religions) coming to the forefront these days. We have to see the ugly ways that we divide the human race in order to stop covering it up and deal with it once and for all. The only way we can really create sustainable relationships is to speak and live our truth while respecting those we interact with as they do the same. Pluto knows this and says enough's enough. No more fooling around. The relationships that can go to a more real level will come out stronger, and the relationships that were built on something superficial or out of integrity will fall away. Heavy stuff when you're being asked to say goodbye to people who have been a big part of your life...but still necessary as we're forced to become more truly ourselves...and who that is today, not who that was years or even generations ago. We're also having to face our fears (ingrained generationally) of retaliation for speaking our truths. Remember, historically, it hasn't been so popular to speak the truth from your personal perspective, especially when it went against the truth of the powers-that-be of the day. It could get us killed, imprisoned, tortured, ostracized from our communities and families, etc. So we're having to face the very real fear of that and do it anyway.

January 2 - The second of three oppositions between Mars and Pluto. The final one in Gemini-Sagittarius, at the final degree of those signs. Time's up. We either learned this shit or we didn't. Final exam is now. Mars will turn direct Jan. 29 at 24 degrees Gemini, and then the final opposition will occur March 6, 2008 at 0 degrees Cancer-Capricorn. But the Gemini-Sagittarius exam is now.

January 6 - First Venus square to retrograding Saturn on January 6. Venus at 8 degrees Sagittarius and Saturn at 8 degrees Virgo. This should bring up some authority issues in our relationships and force us to take responsibility for working out the details (Saturn in Virgo) in our relationships with others. It's tense because Venus in Sagittarius doesn't want to be bothered with minutiae. It doesn't really see the point and would rather be enjoying life and taking a grander view of things. But Virgo knows that no detail is too small. It's like a tiny sliver that has to be worked out. Even though you maybe can't see it, if it isn't taken out, it will affect the health of the whole in a negative way. Virgo is The Princess and the Pea here, and I can feel the angst of this one, already. Venus in Sagittarius is going to be COMPLETELY exasperated with Saturn in Virgo's ridiculous (in Sag's eyes) obsession with tiny little details that don't even seem to matter. I mean, who is looking that CLOSELY, anyway?? Well, Virgo does. That's it's job. And there IS a method to the madness and a purposeful process that Venus in Sag is going to have tolerate if anything is going to get done together. Saturn in Virgo definitely won't shirk it's duty or responsibility to the whole on this one. But at the same time, Saturn is going to have to respect the joie de vivre of Venus in Sag and do it's utmost not to stamp out the flames of inspiration and fun with too much earthy focus. After all, without the inspiration and vision of Sagittarius, Virgo wouldn't have anything to perfect, would it?

January 12 - Second Venus square at 15 degrees Sagittarius to Uranus at 15 degrees Pisces. This square should bring up all those issues in our relationships that are holding us back from moving into a new and more egalitarian way of doing things (Aquarian era - ruled by Uranus). Anything that is unsustainable...anything that would threaten us from moving into the future will come up now. Dogma. Belligerence, arrogance and righteousness related to our personal and philosophical truths. Having to be “right” all the time. Intolerance and overpowering of other truths or perspectives. So again, not easy, but necessary. We might just have to set our sights beyond our personal truths here to the future vision for humanity as a whole, detaching from the personal drama and aligning with the direction our relationships need to go as we move forward. Uranus rules higher intelligence, the future, flashes of genius, change, revolution - and so what we consider our personal truth can change in a second, in a lightning flash showing us a glimpse of the future, that will change our perspectives entirely. We will likely be challenged to align ourselves with the transpersonal here, instead of staying in our dogmatic ruts about what is right and true on a personal level.

January 19 - Venus at 24 degrees Sagittarius opposite Mars at 24 degrees Gemini. This opposition will echo the issues of the Mars-Pluto opposition cycle. (See top of article) So, again, any ways that we're out of integrity in our relations with others will come up now. The ways that we use our words, thoughts or personal wills to fight each other. The ways that we use our social identities or groups to overpower other people. Battles of will. Love within war and war within love. Stuff like that.

January 23 - Venus conjunct Pluto at 29 degrees Sagittarius. Here it is. The master examination at the final degree of Sag. Do we know how to live our personal truths in our relationships? Do we know how to form healthy and functioning relationships with people who hold views and backgrounds different from our own? Are we able to get beyond race, religion, sex, class, etc. in our relationships and act truly as equals...and at the same time, not cover up our differences? Are we able to live our personal truths, no matter what they may be, in harmony with those we love? Are we able to create a common vision and philosophy that will overcome any differences that might divide us? All these questions and more will be answered around this time! This ends the previous year’s Venus-Pluto cycle and begins another one.

January 25 - Pluto leaves Sagittarius for Capricorn, and we shift our focus from underlying philosophies to how those philosophies have created injustice and imbalance in our structures and hierarchies...especially excessive masculine in our business world. (Among many other themes...but this is a big part of it...)January 29 - Mars goes direct at 24 degrees Gemini and we're ready for action with our newly aligned identities, goals, and ways of interacting...not to mention, our physical bodies are now purged of old energy and old patterns.So, phew! Big month. A lot going on. I hope this helps with perspective. It did for me! :)