Points to Ponder Under the Scorpio New Moon

I just found this in my drafts from a few years ago, and it seemed apropos as we open out of the 7-degree Scorpio New Moon today:

One of the biggest ways to screw yourself over if you're an "all in" Plutonic type is to mistake someone else as "all in" when, in fact, they are "one foot in, one foot out."

Just to keep it straight: most people, if they have any designs on fundamental change on this planet at all, are "one foot in, one foot out." They'll rail against the hierarchy but only from within the security of that hierarchy. They'll bitch about the masses, but only from a socially acceptable position.

When you get right down to it, most people want to fit in. They want a "normal" life, firmly within the insulating folds of whatever establishment will have them.

One of the greatest and most wondrous things the Pluto in Capricorn transit is doing, with world economies timed to implode one-by-one like dominoes, is it's making it harder for people to further insulate themselves within their version of the American/Canadian Dream.

Don't get me wrong. At this point, most people just want back into the fold. They just want back in their safe, secure 8 to 5 with dental or whatever variation there might be. People just want back on the treadmill, damn it.

But I'm glad Pluto is not allowing that.

For billions of people on this planet - the majority of people on this planet - being insulated within that mainstream dream was never an option to begin with.

And this is what it's like for truly Plutonic people. There is no option of being insulated from what's really going on on this planet. There is no way to put the blinders back up after they've been unceremoniously torn down. There is no going along with it, unless one can tolerate being soul-poisoned by the facade they must project to do so.

But most people aren't like this, and this is a key thing to remember, especially during Scorpio season. Plutonic people are a special breed, under a special set of conditions that most of the human race couldn't tolerate let alone succeed or prosper under.

To forget that - to project the "all in" Plutonic qualities on people who don't, ultimately, have them - is one way those who have Pluto as a driving force in their lives can screw themselves over royally...

Scorping Season

The Sun and Mercury form their exterior conjunction in underbelly-exposing Scorpio on October 27 (9:16 a.m. PDT at 4 degrees), and we are officially immersed in the witching season.

For a brief time, our thoughts are fused with the current moment. No ruminating on the past or stressing about future challenges. We're right here, focused right into the Scorpy-quiet current moment.

As the Sun and Mercury come together in regeneration-oriented Scorpio, our brains receive some much needed healing.

Our synapses are being purged and cleansed of the million little worries and zillion little details we had on our minds during the extended transit of Mercury through precision-driven Virgo. That transit lasted from July 30 to October 7, including a retrograde period that required some intense mental focus on our parts in order to stay on top of the proceedings.

This Sun-Mercury conjunction marks a completion point related to the themes of that Mercury retrograde process. We've made, re-established, or reinforced some important connections, coming into new understanding and perspective about things, and this allows us to shed some mental dead weight.

Allow that dead weight to fall away, layer-by-layer.

We can finally let go of some things that have been eating at us and infringing on our peace of mind since the summer.

We are also moving to a very interesting New Moon at 7 degrees Scorpio on October 30 (10:38 a.m.), just in time for All Hallow's Eve.

As we move into the dark half of the year in the northern hemisphere, ceding the reins to dark Goddess Cailleach, the focus turns inward. At the surface, things appear to go dormant as we enter the dark half. But this is not entirely true. The real action, the real alchemy, and the real catalyzing effects are going on beneath the surface appearance of things, simmering, simmering like the bubbling witch's brew.

As we move through Scorpio season and the potent Scorpio New Moon at Samhain, we're moving into a period of energetic fusion and merging in areas where we can no longer go it alone.

There is a fierce protectiveness to the sign of Scorpio, and using its energy well means coming together with the right people in the right situations that will buffer and support us - rather than drain and destabilize us - through the trials, tribulations, and traumas of human life. Using this energy well means sussing out deep-down allegiances, alliances, and motivations and making our choices as far as who we'd like to join forces with (if anyone at all...) and who we'd like included in our dark-half bunker.

New Emotional Instincts and Cues Under A Revolutionary Full Moon

The Moon is currently traveling through misty and mystical late Pisces, forming a conjunction to wounded healer Chiron (21 degrees) tonight before pushing its way to fullness in a 23-degree Aries Full Moon on October 15 (9:23 p.m. PDT), almost exactly conjunct Uranus.

There are emotional endings - playing so sweetly on our heartstrings - wrapped up in the new emotional territory we're entering now, as the Moon completes its transit of the final sign of the zodiac, Pisces, before entering the first sign of the zodiac, Aries, at 8:08 a.m. PDT tomorrow morning.

The Moon is pushing its way to fullness in the sign of the trailblazer, conjunct radical and revolutionary Uranus, and there can be no stopping our momentum now onto new emotional ground.

There is a "busting loose" theme here as our emotional instincts and cues take on a particularly primal tone. 

This Aries Full Moon is raw, alive. It brings movement. It knows what (and whom) it wants and will go directly for it. Our usual emotional habits and patterns are getting a necessary shake-up. We're being pushed beyond the safety and pull of old comfort zones. Our emotional impulses take on a strongly Uranian tone - erratic, raw, instinctual, driving us to new inner life, new emotional fuel, new growth.

We know we can't stay where we are. And this Aries Full Moon connects us with the beating Uranian pulse of the new astrological era. It beats a drum that perhaps only we can hear, producing necessary new rhythm and movement. We need only to gather the courage and the guts to follow this new pulse, this new rhythm, these new emotional cues and instincts, as they propel us and compel us into exciting new places.

It's a matter of emotional survival to tap into and then direct ourselves via this raw and instinctual inner pulse. The old story lines are breaking down. The old comfort zones are being shaken apart at the seams. We must move on, toward something else.

This is a relationship-oriented Full Moon, also, falling opposite the Libra Sun. 

The Aries Moon will also oppose Jupiter and Mercury, in conjunction in Libra, as it moves to its peak. Mercury in Libra will form a square to Pluto in Capricorn as the Moon grows full on October 15, producing a "cutting to the chase" effect in communications.

These new emotional impulses are working to initiate necessary change in our relations with others. People could be making seemingly sudden moves or changes in direction within relationships or social settings. Some of these moves may seem "out of character," but they are true to the traits and aspects of identity emerging as we shed astrological Pisces and commit fully to weird and wild Aquarius.

These changes in direction - potentially sudden and even radical - are reinforced by a deep and transformative conjunction between Aries' ruling planet Mars and Lord of the Underworld Pluto in Capricorn. 

This Mars-Pluto conjunction is strongly in effect during the Aries Full Moon, but it is exact at 15 degrees Capricorn on October 19 (4:22 a.m.). 

This conjunction indicates that some paths are no longer available to us. Some personal goals are no longer worth pursuing in light of the collective circumstances. Our goals and trajectories are in a state of shedding, morphing, and streamlining in order to survive "the way things are being done" on Planet Earth.

Our personal energy expenditures - including emotional and psychological - are coming under new limitations in light of planetary conditions.

Our true power now comes from shedding and eliminating all that is unnecessary, particularly as this relates to personal desires, goals, trajectories, and energy expenditures. 

Old attractions, old draws, old attachments, old hang-ups, old triggers, old dramas - all these are being offered up in a process of sombre, soul-driven purification. There simply isn't energy for all of it anymore, and this awareness makes the changes in trajectory and the honing of personal desires and goals much easier to accept.

Mars in Capricorn will continue to a square to Uranus in Aries on October 28, bringing some sudden changes or lightning bolt flashes of insight that propel us into new structural realities, providing new - and perhaps surprising - mountains for us to climb.

Female warrior asteroid Pallas Athene stations direct at 18 degrees Aquarius on October 18, and the themes of this body are very potent at the time of the Aries Full Moon, as well. Both male warrior (Aries/Mars) and female warrior (Pallas Athene) are represented prominently. 

The Pallas Athene direct station in Aquarius indicates that our most successful strategies involve setting our sights on a future vision, rather than dwelling on the things that have been taken away or lost. This is the way we battle and strategize our way into a preferable future, rather than allowing the traumas and heaviness of the past and present to consume us. 

Stretch beyond your habitual responses at this Aries Full Moon. Find the courage to take just a single step into new and uncharted emotional/relational territory, and the flashes of Uranian brilliance will guide you the rest of the way.

Dispositor Venus and Unlocking the Benefits of the Jupiter in Libra Transit

 Photo: Willow

The planet that makes everything it touches bigger (Jupiter) entered Libra on September 9, putting a spotlight on all things Libran for the following year - justice, balance, peace, beauty, social settings, and relationships, to name a few.

As I mentioned in the previous Jupiter in Libra patron article, the Greater Benefic planet in the sign of relationships does not mean purely smooth relational sailing, however.

Relationships and social scenes are growing, developing, and expanding over the course of this year (along with desires for peace, justice, beauty, fairness, mutuality, and balance), but this expansion comes with some definite growing pains, especially as we struggle to navigate new-era relationship rules, dynamics, and constructs.


This is an excerpt from the patron article, "Dispositor Venus and Unlocking the Benefits of the Jupiter in Libra Transit." This article is available in its entirety to Willow's Web Astrology patrons.

A Blessed Point of Balance

The Sun enters Libra September 22 (8:21 a.m. PDT), marking fall equinox in the northern hemisphere, a balancing point when daytime and nighttime hours are perfectly matched.

After the nose-to-the-grindstone Virgoan harvest, a time of work, work, work and intensely industrious progress on the physical plane, we move to this airy Libran equinox point of balancing and re-balancing.

Fall equinox is a time when we raise our eyes from our own dutiful productivity, shifting focus to the enjoyment of human society and the people we like and love most on this planet. It marks a time characterized by relationships, sociability, and the shared enjoyment of the fruits of our industrious labour. It is a point of rest, recuperation, and relaxation as the scales balance themselves out naturally with little effort on our parts, perfectly counter-weighted for a fleeting period of time that must be recognized, enjoyed, and celebrated.

So Happy Equinox, everyone!

This equinox and the following Libra season are special ones, indeed, as Greater Benefic planet Jupiter is also newly in Libra (as of September 9), marking the first fall equinox since 2005 when lucky horseshoe Jupiter is bringing its blessings, expansion, and grace to the proceedings.

The Sun will form its one and only conjunction to Jupiter in Libra on September 26 at 3 degrees. These bodies will not conjoin again in Libra until September 30, 2028, so the cosmic grace is really raining down on all things Libra - and on anyone with a strong Libra placement or placements either natally or by Secondary Progression. This is a time of blessed expansion, luck, and grace in relationships, partnerships, social life, and community building. Issues around art, beauty, and aesthetic are being given a boost at this time. This aspect also indicates the potential for beneficial progress related to justice issues, fairness, truth, and overall mutuality in human relationships.

We are forming or building relationships and alliances at this time that expand our social webs in beneficial ways that will develop over the next 12 years of life on Planet Earth and beyond.

There is some strong social magic at this fall equinox and throughout this Sun in Libra season, to say the least.

With Jupiter transiting Libra until October 2017, love and togetherness are back in vogue.

This is not to say that it's all smooth relational sailing, however. (A more in-depth look at the Jupiter in Libra transit can be found in this patron article.)

Libra's ruling planet Venus moves into the sign of its detriment, Scorpio, on September 23 (8:51 a.m.) for a transit that lasts until October 18. This is the placement most heavily influencing the Sun-Jupiter conjunction in Libra on September 26.

In order to benefit fully from the relationship expansion indicated by the Sun-Jupiter conjunction, we must go deep, perhaps deeper than lovely Libra is completely comfortable with.

Full emotional authenticity - layer by layer - will be required as we work together to overcome tricky ancestral patterns and sore spots as well as their emotional/psychological aftermath.

There are deep needs that have gone unmet in relationship through our ancestral lines, particularly emotional and psychological needs. These unmet needs create disturbance, trauma, and dysfunction that are carried forward through the generations. The upcoming aspects indicate a wonderful opportunity to address the carried-over ancestral trauma and unmet needs right to their roots, building relationship dynamics with greater awareness, transparency, depth, understanding, and mutual support.

Venus transiting Scorpio indicates a time when it is especially important to be clear on underlying motivations, goals, and trajectories in relationships, ensuring that these things are ultimately compatible before too much expansion and merger are taken on.

Venus transiting Scorpio indicates a deepening of soul-level bonds, a stronger emotional meshing with others, and a full merger at the heart with those we love right to the core of who they are. Powerful bonds are being forged here, and a powerful love is being catalyzed that will fuel our relationships and social settings over the next 12 years. 

We will also experience some relief in mental pressure and intensity just in time for equinox, as communication and intelligence planet Mercury stations direct at 14 degrees Virgo on September 21 (10:31 p.m.).

We've had a lot on our mental plates as the messenger planet retrograded in highly-focused and hard-working Virgo. There were many details we had to stay on top of (not at all easy during a Mercury retrograde period), many duties that had to be completed, and much work and worry and stress that had to be navigated.

Now, with Mercury shifting forward again, we experience some relief in the mental strain and worry, as well as an alleviation of the painfully intense focus. (A full shift comes as Mercury enters Libra October 7.)

As Mercury re-gains speed direct, we start to feel as if we're on top of things once again.

Something has been clarified for us since August 10 when Mercury first entered the retrograde shadow. Our perspectives have been honed and re-shaped as new information and details came in - or were dug up by us.

As Mercury goes direct, we have achieved a necessary new clarity, and we are able to put that into practical application in our lives. 

Mercury stations direct in exact trine to Pluto in Capricorn, which is also stationing direct at this time (September 26 at 9:02 a.m.). This flowing Mercury-Pluto trine - though quite concentrated and intense with both bodies stationing direct - indicates some very welcome progress, no matter how small the advancements may seem. Solutions can appear for even the largest of problems and concerns.

Overall, the Mercury direct station in Virgo relieves mental pressure, taking a load off our minds as we move into Libra season.

Jupiter in Libra: Bringing it All to the Table

Photos: Willow

Relationship-related planet Venus is acting as a scout at the moment as it transits its home turf of Libra. 

Venus is currently out front of Jupiter, which enters Libra September 9 for a transit that lasts until October 17, 2017. 

As it transits the sign of the scales, Venus is forming the same aspects to the outer planets that Jupiter will form during its own year-long transit. 

This gives us a taste of the social and relationship growth on the near horizon, and friends, this taste could be a little spicier than we were expecting from such a balanced and peace-seeking sign. 

Just as we clear the final exact Saturn-Neptune square on September 10, Venus will square transiting Pluto in Capricorn (September 11) and oppose transiting Uranus in Aries (September 18). 

Sandwiched between those two Venus aspects, we have a number of dominant squares to navigate, and the flavour of these squares gives us an indicator of the sometimes-frictional growth opportunities that lie ahead. 

The Sun and Mercury retrograde will form their interior conjunction at 20 degrees Virgo on September 12, and both bodies will be in exact square to Mars in Sagittarius September 12/13. 

We will also experience a 24-degree Pisces Full Moon conjunct wounded healer Chiron on September 16 opposite the Sun and Mercury Rx in Virgo and with all bodies squaring Mars in Sagittarius. This Full Moon has a definite "getting it all on the table" quality, and the things being shared could be inflammatory (Mars). *ahem* 

As mentioned in the recent Jupiter in Libra patron article, Jupiter's transit of Libra will put a spotlight on social justice issues and the ongoing work toward a more just society.  *hoo boy* 

The main theme I see here - with Venus scouting for us in Libra and the Sun-Mercury in Virgo square to Mars in Sagittarius - is a requirement for some of the finer points on social justice issues to come forth in order to puncture and "reality check" some partial-truth rhetoric being put forth by academic circles, media, and various organized groups. 

Jupiter in Libra and a New-Era Shake Up of Relating Patterns

Big, beautiful Jupiter enters tropical Libra on September 9 for a transit that lasts until October 11, 2017. 

We have a lovely equinox September 22 to look forward to, as the Sun enters Libra and daylight and darkness hours are in perfect balance. This will be the first fall equinox with Greater Benefic Jupiter bringing its good vibes to the party since 2005. Enjoy this moment of natural re-balancing and good cheer. The Sun will form its one and only conjunction to Jupiter in Libra on September 26 at 3 degrees. Wonderful.

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system and is said to make anything it touches BIGGER. Jupiter is associated astrologically with blessings, benefit, luck, wisdom, expansion, and the broadening expansion of horizons. Referred to as the Greater Benefic planet, Jupiter is generally considered an optimistic and jovial influence, a bringer of benevolent things.

Libra as a sign is associated with balance, peace, justice, beauty, aesthetic, manners, and social graces.

Oh, yeah, and relationships. Did I forget to mention relationships?

Now, I have a feeling I know how a lot of astrologers out there are going to read this transit. Jupiter in Libra: nothing but luck in relationships all year long! If we're single, we all fall madly in love, get married, and live happily ever after! If we're already paired up, get ready for romantic trips to Paris, Mimosas and chocolate-dipped strawberries every morning, and full-on coupled-up bliss!

The astrologer you're reading, however, has Venus in one of the tougher placements, which makes her well aware that relationships are not that easy-breezy, smooth sailing for everyone. In fact, if you are reading this particular astrologer, it's quite likely that you're well aware of that yourself, and probably from personal experience.

This astrologer is well aware that Jupiter is also associated with bluster, rhetoric, assumptions, blanket statements, over-reaching, and over-confidence.


This is an excerpt from the article, "Jupiter in Libra and a New-Era Shake Up of Relating Patterns." It is available in its entirety to Willow's Web Astrology patrons, or it can be purchased for $10.25 by PayPal or email money transfer.

This 3,400+ word article outlines themes and major aspects for the year-long Jupiter in Libra transit.

A Concentrated Mercury Rx Station: The Truth is in the Details

Graffiti on a train car
This train went forward past me and then reversed back up the track the way it came. A fitting symbol for a Mercury retrograde article, I thought.


Mercury retrograde August 30 to September 21 from 29 to 14 degrees Virgo

Communication and intelligence planet Mercury stations retrograde on the 29th degree of Virgo on August 30 (6:04 a.m. PDT) in a mash-up with the two benefics of the zodiac, Venus (which will be newly in Libra) and Jupiter (just finishing its transit of Virgo).

Winged messenger Mercury is at home in Virgo. It is the ruling body of that sign. However, a retrograde station on the potent and concentrated anaretic (final) degree of this sign is a bit much, even for Mercury in home territory.

There is an absolute glut of information and detail concentrated into this degree, so very much we have to take into consideration if we are to maintain effective perspective. As Mercury puts on the brakes and reverses direction on this most analytical of zodiac degrees, to say we are tasked with keeping up on the finer points would be an understatement.

Luckily, we have an extended transit of Mercury through Virgo (until October 7) to process and integrate all those pertinent finer points...

We're going back over the ideas, information, connections, perceptions, and conversations we've had since Mercury first entered the retrograde shadow on August 10. There are more details to be gleaned and more perspective to be gathered on everything experienced between August 10 and August 30.

There is some confusion here, also, as Mercury reverses itself, some difficulty in maintaining that honed, practical, "100% totally and completely with it" perspective. Staying on top of alllllll the information, details, and organization we have to stay on top of in our daily lives and work is a challenge at the moment, to say the least.

This challenge eases a little as Mercury re-gains speed in retrograde motion during the first few days of September.

Mercury in Virgo has a tendency to turn things over and over and over in the mind, looking at every possible angle, bringing in even the tiniest of details, going over even the most minute of perceived errors.

And all that mental processing and processing and processing has a tendency to make us a little stressed!

With Mercury stationing retrograde in conjunction to Jupiter, the over-thinking and overly-analytical tendencies are exaggerated even further. Mercury conjunct Jupiter indicates the possibility of too much information/analysis/thinking with the Virgo function (fairly overloaded at the moment) required to streamline and filter it all.

The truth is in the details, but we must first shed the unnecessary and narrow our focus.  

Saturn Square Neptune Tension and Some Fortifying Context From the Vault

As mentioned in a recent post, the astrological aspects of the moment suggest a tough period of time for many as end-of-Piscean-era structural realities continue to dissolve, disappoint, and come up short all around us.

At the same time, we're forging ahead - experimentally, often in a state of muted shock - while gaining momentum in a new astrological era. Things work differently now. Energy works differently. As a result, in order to be successful, things must be set up differently, under rules aligned with the natural laws governing the astrological Aquarian Age.

In many ways, we are moving into a freer and more dynamic period. As things break down, we are forced to seek alternatives, to do things differently. Keeping the grand scale, macro shift in mind can help to inspire us and buoy our spirits when everything seems to be swirling down the fin-de-Piscean-era drain.

There can also be no doubt, however, that many/most are weighed down in some way by this "will it never end?" transitional period. We're moving through experiences of stagnation, inertia, confusion, isolation, listlessness, disappointment, and/or despair, time periods when nothing at all seems to work, and these periods can increase in potency as the era shift gathers momentum.

Keep in mind: we are working to achieve escape velocity from the sticky karmic loops, from the devastating dirty tricks, and from the unmet and unrealized ideals of the astrological Piscean era.

And we're going to get there, there's no doubt about it. If for no other reason than: there's nowhere else to go.

At the same time, no caring, feeling, intelligent being of any degree of sensitivity could deny the pain and suffering going on on this planet - much of it intentionally being brought down upon us by the nasty mix of nefarious nogoodniks inhabiting positions of power within the illegitimate structural hierarchies of this planet.

More than two thousand years of it is being layered upon us now, concentrated into this period of time, spread amongst the billions of us currently living and breathing on Planet Earth, shared even amongst the Earth-compassionate spirits on the other side.

No one can entirely separate his or her own emotional and psychological states from the intense misery and fear that has been generated, stirred, and intentionally manufactured around the globe for millenia. We can protect ourselves from it, insulate ourselves from it to a degree, love ourselves and others through it, but we cannot separate ourselves from it.

This impossibility of separation is a Chiron in Pisces lesson, and with the wounded healer now transiting late Pisces, this lesson is coming to a head.

Grateful for Small Shifts

When we wake up tomorrow morning, that heavy beast Saturn will be direct, indicating an ever-so-slight release in the pressure.

Venus in Virgo also squares Saturn in Sagittarius tomorrow morning (7:31 a.m. PDT), an indicator that ongoing hits to self-esteem will gradually be lifting, as well.

Both Saturn stations and challenging aspects between Venus and Saturn can indicate financial stress, so these types of anxieties may be reaching a peak now, as well. Phew. I'm not sure we could have taken much more, especially combined with the Saturn square Neptune angst. But just in time - in perfect cosmic timing - we experience a little shift.

We're navigating some tough astrological aspects now, there can be no doubt about it, as well as a great deal of uncertainty. But as of tomorrow, we're inching forward, happy and grateful for even the slightest of progress or alleviation of pressure. (And for those complaining that it's not enough progress, or that it's not coming fast enough, work on that gratitude...)

Mercury in Virgo is well into its retrograde shadow, indicating that we'll be coming back to all this to pick up on further details. Tiny details and pieces of missing information will be gathered between now and October 7 - when Mercury finally completes its transit of Virgo and Saturn in Sagittarius finally forms its exact square to the nodal axis. Our perspectives are being honed, refined, and re-shaped ever-so-slightly between now and early October. We may be quite surprised by how our mindsets change between now and then.

Saturn in Sagittarius direct: the wise, wise path of endurance combined with patience. Bearing the weight and the struggle with humour, good will, and optimism. Acceptance of conditions while working to improve them. Even the tiniest morsels of inspiration pushing us onward.

You can read more about the themes of the Saturn direct station in this recent article: Saturn Direct Brings Us Into a Period of Structural Transition - $6.25 for non-patrons

I will also remind patrons to consult this March 19, 2016 article for further context: Entering a Period of Beneficial and Inspirational Re-Structuring

The Potential for Intense Challenge, Particularly For Males

Head's up: what I'm writing about here isn't pretty, but it is real.

I've written on the blog before about Mars - Saturn contacts and the increase in the likelihood of (in particular) male suicides.

In my own little sphere, I've heard about two male suicides as well as an attempted suicide this summer with Mars (actions) transiting late Scorpio (death).

This isn't limited to men, but men would be affected in particular, as both Mars and Saturn are masculine symbols. 

We've had extended interplay between Mars and Saturn, the two malefic bodies of the zodiac, during the Mars retrograde period (April 17 - June 29).

Mars formed a loose conjunction to Saturn as it stationed retrograde, drawing the challenge, the dread, the fear, and the intense pressure associated with Saturn into that entire process. It inflamed (Mars) all those difficult Saturnine challenges, making them seem - at times - insurmountable.

This inflammation continues...

Mars has just re-entered Sagittarius (August 2) and is now closing in on an exact conjunction to Saturn at 9 degrees of the sign (August 24). Saturn is also stationing direct August 13 in square aspect to Neptune Rx in Pisces, indicating that our responsibilities may seem more difficult/heavy/intolerable/unworkable than usual.

The situation is: many people are under an intense amount of pressure now. This reaches a peak August 24/25 with the exact Mars-Saturn conjunction and Mars-Neptune square. Luckily, we will also have a pile-up of Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter in late Virgo at that time to keep things functioning. This conjunction of the two benefic planets (Venus and Jupiter) works to offset the conjunction of the two malefic planets (Mars and Saturn).

Coming out of the Mars retrograde period as we are now, there are changes in personal direction necessary that may be upsetting to people who have gotten used to the way things are. Previous trajectories may have to be abandoned or at least transitioned now, and this may involve commitments that we were expecting to keep over the long term. There are potentially major "structural adjustments" underway in our lives, and under the current aspects, these changes may seem impossibly challenging.

There just isn't energy for these older goals, trajectories, or structures anymore. And if we pretend, if we try to carry the deadened shells on our backs just because we can't face making a different decision and potentially letting people down, we may not even be able to sustain the will to go on.

Understand the pressures that people are dealing with now. Understand the pressures affecting you and your own mental/emotional state.

When I say astrology saves lives, I'm not speaking in hyperbole. It absolutely can and does. Using astrology to understand the pressures and challenges we're under can help us to eke our way through them. In particular, the understanding that the intolerable difficulty of our challenges is temporary can help immeasurably.

I've re-opened the comments section on the blog, so if you'd like to share a comment or a laugh, please do. I think it helps to know that there are other sensitive and thinking people out there, other people who know what's up on Planet Earth. I know it helps me.

Saturn Direct Brings Us Into a Period of Structural Transition

Saturn is currently grinding to a halt in the zodiac as it prepares to station direct at 9 degrees Sagittarius on August 13 (2:50 a.m. PDT).

Saturn slowing to a crawl can bring up our "Saturn lessons" in a concentrated way. We may experience temporarily heightened bouts of fear, frustration, depression, self-doubt, and insecurity (especially financial), as well as feelings of inadequacy or inferiority. All the fun stuff. We may also become aware of areas where we need to get stronger.

Saturn stations can weigh us down a bit, making responsibilities seem heavier and more difficult than they may ordinarily seem. We may feel a little trapped within the walls of our own lives, particularly in the areas related to the house where transiting Saturn is stationing in the natal chart. It may seem that progress has stopped entirely - and for a short period of time, it pretty much has!

But as Saturn shifts forward again August 13 and slowly regains speed direct throughout the rest of the month, we also get a feeling that the show is once again on the road. We've had a period of inner restructuring and sober second thought throughout the retrograde (March 25 - August 13, 2016) and are preparing to once again dig in and make some concrete progress.

After action planet Mars forms its conjunction to Saturn at 9 degrees Sagittarius on August 24, we are officially on our way. We're freer to make decisions and commitments that launch us on a new trajectory.

There may be a feeling of the torch being passed from older members of the planet (Saturn) to younger members (Mars). Or in the best case scenarios, there are new collaborations coming among the older and more experienced and the younger and more energetic.

We're all struggling out of the tail-end dregs of the astrological Piscean era together, friends.


This is an excerpt from the patron article, "Saturn Direct Brings Us Into a Period of Structural Transition." It is available in its entirety to Willow's Web Astrology patrons, or it can be purchased for $6.25 by PayPal or email money transfer.