Design and Implementation

In thirty days—on September 17, 2015 at 9:49 pm CDT—Saturn will ingress the sign of Sagittarius, where it will remain until December 19, 2017. Less than nine hours before that happens, Mercury will station retrograde at 15 Libra 55.

Noticing this synchronicity, I decided to explore the Gemini and Virgo perspectives of this event. That’s when information started flooding in.

For brevity, I will simply list the related aspects (transits) and dates, then discuss the big picture:

• 8/2/15 – Jupiter squared Saturn
• 8/10/15 – Jupiter ingressed Virgo
• 8/23/15 – Sun ingresses Virgo
• 9/17/15 – Mercury (ruler of Virgo and Gemini) stations retrograde
• 9/17/15 – Saturn ingresses Sagittarius

Notice that all of the above links four orbs (sun, Mercury, Jupiter, & Saturn) with three signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius). Also notice that all three signs are mutable and ruled by either Mercury or Jupiter.

Clearly, there is a theme building.

Jupiter ingressing Virgo and Saturn ingressing Sagittarius mean each enters a mutable sign and thus crosses an angle (ASC, MC, DSC, IC) in the mutable charts (Gemini, Virgo, Sadge, or Pisces). They will square two more times in 2016: 3/23 and 5/26.

Mutable signs are flexible…adaptable…pliable. It is no surprise that our three dual signs (Gemini, Sadge, and Pisces) are all mutable.

Mercury, the only planet that has more than one retrograde in a year, has a dualistic nature (what it’s like moving forward and what it’s like moving backward). In classic Astrology, most planets ruled two signs, but these days, only Mercury and Venus still do…at least by themselves. We still say that Jupiter rules Pisces, but we also say that Neptune rules Pisces, for example.

When I think of Gemini versus Virgo, I tend to think of Mercury’s forward motion and backward motion. Gemini is more about design, while Virgo is more about implementation.

For fun, here are two pictures illustrating one of my recent projects. It shows the design and ultimate implementation of a woodshed. I, with the help of SketchUp, designed the shed…and I built it, with the help of others.

Gemini likes to think (it’s an air sign). It can be satisfied with thought alone. In fact, Gemini can have a hard time enduring the time it takes to actually build or construct.

Virgo, as an earth sign, is far more patient. It is not intimidated by the details. Notice that my design above did not contain all the details of the final product. Once I knew what needed to be done, I stopped designing and saved the details to the implementation.

You probably question why I bring this up, but it is pertinent…to all influenced by mutable signs (everyone!).

Saturn entering a sign is the start of a 2 to 2-1/2 year cycle. Saturn crossing an angle is the start of a 7-year cycle (one quarter of a full Saturn orbit).

When I compared the archetype of Gemini to that of Virgo, the difference between them could be thought of as Saturn. Gemini plus Saturn equals Virgo. Saturn adds the earthy influence. There can be all sorts of flaws in a design, which don’t much matter…until the design is turned into matter (material), then those details matter a great deal!

Saturn asks us to pay attention to our responsibilities. It urges us to cross our ‘t’s and dot our ‘i’s. It’s not just because they look better that way, but because they function better that way.

Virgo’s gift is a knack for improving what is. To improve what is, you must see what is! Saturn reveals the cold hard facts: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

In order to expand (Jupiter), we have to make sure we’re on sure footing (4th house). We all know that you cannot build a tower on sand; it will fall over. Jupiter now sits in the 4th house in the Gemini chart…enabling design to become implementation.

When I cast a chart for Saturn ingress Sagittarius, I noticed that the sign of Virgo was intercepted in the 5^th house (house of creativity). That means that the Virgo vibe is hidden, unexpressed, or at least stifled.

For a year, Jupiter is going to turn up the Virgo vibe. It is going to expand that area in our individual charts.

Generally speaking, Virgo is practical. Leo wanted it to look good, but after a month (sun) and year (Jupiter) of that, Virgo comes along and says, “But it needs to work well, or the beauty is lost.”

Sagittarius is known for its excess. Whether it’s preaching or partying, it’s all in. Saturn will temper that tendency. If you preach holier than thou, but your own nose is not clean, Saturn’s going to send you home to wipe your face. If you’re skipping out of work to party a few too many times, Saturn is going to demote you.

It is interesting that the traditional back-to-school time-period is Virgo. There is a time and a place for everything. If you want it to be better, you have to make it so.

When I troll Facebook, I too often see posts about this travesty and that one. A lot of people are crying out: “It should not be this way!” I don’t disagree. It shouldn’t be this way; it shouldn’t be this difficult; it shouldn’t hurt this much. But then I am reminded of this (short) post from March 2012 about building (creating/manifesting) our dreams. Check it out; it’s a good one!

Sand Castles in the Sky

It is time to move past merely seeing and stating the flaws. It is now time to start fixing them. And to fix problems, we have to stop focusing (obsessing) on the problem and start focusing on the solution. Even if we don’t know what the solution is, we can align with the idea of solution and its vibration…