Early morning April 15th, Mercury stations direct. To my way of thinking, Mercury started collecting data on March 22nd at roughly 17o Aries. He will then hand off that data to roughly 5o Aries for the next one to come along. If you have planets in that area, or ones that aspect it, you might want to review what they signify in your life.
In the most general way of thinking, I associate Aries with the first house, and thus our identity—in other words, how we think about ourselves. This can easily equate to thoughts of life purpose, belonging, what to do when we grow up, etc.
Interestingly, two days after Mercury stations, Chiron enters Aries for the first time in nearly 50 years. I have Chiron in early Aries. This Mercury Retrograde thus brought me (old) data that needs to be processed and transformed as part of my Chiron Return.
For others (including myself), I noticed that this Mercury Retrograde period seemed to press upon desires to move forward within our hottest topics. In other words, if there is something you’ve been trying to do for a long time, this Mercury Retro might have had you burning rubber—spinning your wheels loudly but not yet moving forward.
I am very curious to see what this coming week will bring. It is packed with Astrological alignment.
Take a look at this chart:
First, notice the wedge that is highlighted in blue. This is also called an easy opposition between Venus in Taurus and Jupiter in Scorpio. Fixed oppositions are tenacious. Both sides dig in and do not want to move from their position.
But the Trine/Sextile with Pluto and Mars is extremely dynamic, fiery, and potentially productive.
Furthermore, the sun will conjunct Uranus and, as I mentioned already, Chiron will move into Aries. And there is a lot of rulership going on. Venus rules Taurus where she resides and Saturn rules Capricorn. Mars rules Aries, where 3 and then 4 orbs reside and Pluto rules Scorpio, thus influencing what Jupiter is up to. Neptune has been swimming in the sea of Pisces forever and a day now, so that accounts for just about everyone!
By the way, I like to use the moon as a timing device so I selected a moment when the moon was actively involved with the Wedge. That placed her in Taurus where she is exalted.
All of this rulership charges the alignment and gives is clarity. Think of a painting comprised of only the primary colors. The reds are nothing but red and the blues are nothing but blue. This sharpens the contrast between the two.
Since the personal planets (Mercury, Venus, and Mars) sit prominently within this chart, I expect most to feel this energy among personal subjects. However, since the outer planets are also involved, current events reflect the personal. One such example comes to mind.
When Jupiter first entered Scorpio in October, the news was suddenly flooded with stories of sexual misconduct. In a very Jupiter way, the topic expanded rapidly. It did not explode. It did not create the revolution many desire. It brought something out into the light in a very obvious way, then the wave of expansion waned.
The topic is still hot right now, even if it is not being covered in the media as much. The individuals affected are probably still feeling just as strong about the whole thing.
Abraham says: “When you know what you don’t want, you know what you do want.” So what is the opposite of sexual misconduct?
One might say respect. If women are respected fully, they would never be treated that way. Same for men and children. So respecting others (and valuing them) would create an environment where sexual misconduct does not exist.
The pending opposition matches this idea: Venus in Taurus (representing platonic love and values) opposes Jupiter in Scorpio, which exposed the sexual misconduct that had been going on for a long time.
In my mind, however, the truer (or clearer) opposite of sexual misconduct is passion between lovers. We all love giving and receiving the kind of love that Venus represents. In a perfect world, we all want that passionate form of love too. We want Venus and Mars, the Libra and the Scorpio.
Jupiter, as a expanding influence, can be unbiased and indiscriminate. Jupiter in Scorpio is expanding whatever is going on there. It wants to increase our experience of sexual passion, but it also expands whatever is in the way of that. It is widely known that those who have experienced sexual abuse tend to shy away from sexual expression. If the expression is repressed too much for too long, it comes out sideways, which is what perpetuates the sexual misconduct. In order to gain freedom within our expression of passion, we must take the journey from feeling vulnerable to feeling empowered.
And that is a personal journey.
Luckily, there are millions of paths between the two and millions of ways to embark the journey. I think collectively we are on our way.
What about the rest? What about those people who are not dealing with any of the above. Many people out there have not had those kinds of experiences and thus feel free and empowered within their own sexuality and intimate relationships.
An even more general way to look at this opposition is between personal values and those of others around you. Consider, for example, parents of young children who struggle to find some me time. Another example is anyone who works for a living and is torn, at times, between taking a day off and doing what is being asked of them. Either our work ethic or our need for income can have us putting ourselves low on the list too often, and enough of that takes its toll after a while.
The issues reflected in this chart are clear. I’m sure you can find the precise feelings you have (or have experienced in the past) that match the dilemma I describe. But a wedge doesn’t just show the problem, it also shows the solution.
And it is not just the wedge that is showing us this.
More and more, I am discovering that many of the problems we face already have solutions. I keep having this one experience over and over: I have a minor problem in my life; I think about what could possibly solve the issue; I look for evidence out in the world; and then I find a solution, which is fully manifested, and is even more elegant than what I came up with.
I am tempted to say that all problems have solutions that already exist…and that our work or our role is simply to match them up.
So what are the solutions presented by this chart?
The sun/Uranus conjunction illustrates one. Uranus is nearly done with Aries. When it moves into Taurus, the revolutionary seeds of the past eight years will be planted into the dirt. Given some TLC, some water and sun, those seeds will sprout and grow.
Chiron, through his years in Pisces, has collected a whole lot of tears. As he moves into Aries, he can help us transition from asking for help to actual healing.
When Mars and later Saturn conjunct with Pluto, the r/evolution of our structured society can take another step forward. Pluto would love to tear it all down and start from scratch, but Capricorn doesn’t work that way and we don’t really want that either. We want our government, our economy, our institutions to improve steadily, but not too rapidly. We want time to adjust to the shifts in the way things works. So taking a single step forward is the right approach.
And, as the corner of the wedge, we do want to take the same Saturn/Capricorn approach within our personal struggle between the desires we have for ourselves individually and what we also want for those around us.
Whatever struggle or conflict or dilemma you may be facing in your life, take a moment to consider the possibility that the complete solution already exists. It is out there; it is beautifully elegant, it is win-win, and it is accessible, affordable, possible, and probable. The path from where we are to where we want to be exists. And walking that path is simply taking one step at a time. If we pay attention to your Speed and Direction, we’ll get there sooner than you think!
A Fool's Inclination 