August 16 to 21
This week and weekend the biggest planetary players in the night sky–both visible and invisible–are Venus, Mercury, and the Moon. The most intensely felt aspects took place yesterday (reverberating through the week) with Mercury and Venus’s conjunction to each other and the Sun. The Sun conjunction can be understood as the “Heart” of the Underworld–the place in the initiatory journey of the Sacred Feminine (Venus) where she directly faces into the death of her ego identity; who she believes herself to be. It can feel like a literal death.
Retrograde Mercury has been an extraordinary messenger for us since the beginning of the month with its conjunctions to Regulus and opposition to Neptune. Now Mercury is connecting to the Sacred Feminine as the “Psychopomp”–he/she who can travel to the Underworld without experiencing death/dismemberment–and report back from the “field.”
So we get an extraordinary download from Mercury on what this death rebirth process is actually about–collectively and personally. Similar to the detached awareness made available by the recent Aquarius Full Moon, we are provided a window of clarity and understanding in the midst of the chaos of the unconscious Underworld process. In other words, we are provided a glimpse into the deepest mysteries of Death and Rebirth. Yet truly, it is only a glimpse. The majority of this initiation is to be felt, not “thought through.”
This week has the potential to be extremely emotionally challenging. It also has the potential for dramatic, life-changing transformation and release and catharsis. If we are pushing to accomplish a great deal in the outer world (work, relationship, etc., etc.) without honoring our need for extra rest and down time, we may end up being forced to take a break despite ourselves. The reality is that we are “working” very, very hard right now at the level of our souls.
So for some of us, that might mean actually taking a break from consciously trying to “process” and work out challenging relationship issues or matters of personal psychological pain. It might be more important to focus our attention on the most critical tasks at hand, and only the most essential relationship upkeep. In any case, as was true last week, gentle does it.
Trust that the clearing, releasing, processing that needs to happen is already occurring below the level of our conscious awareness. Try to let yourself-and those you love, off the hook to the best of your ability. Moon Magic–Jupiter and the Pleiades
For those of us who like to stay up late and admire the night sky, this weekend is a wonderful time to view the Moon cycles. Late Friday night we can see the waning near-quarter Moon, near exact conjunction with Jupiter, the brightest planet in the western evening sky at about 10 degrees Taurus.
On Sunday at 2:54 pm MST, the Last Quarter Taurus Moon is exact (squaring the Sun) almost precisely conjunct the Pleiades (29 Taurus). This in and of itself would be an extraordinary event. However, its significance is amplified when just 6 minutes later (at 3:00 pm) Venus is exactly conjunct Regulus, the “Heart of the Lion Constellation” at 29’59 Leo. Of course, the Sun is nearly conjunct Regulus at this time as well–so we have the Sun and Venus at Regulus squaring the Moon at the Pleiades.
Sunday night after sunset, we can see the Moon about 3 degrees away from conjunction with the Pleiades..
This Pleiades Moon conjunction, occurring as Jupiter prepares to turn retrograde this coming week, highlights the importance of the Taurus mysteries at this time. Within Shamanic Astrology it is understood that Jupiter’s sign represents the current “dharma” or spiritual path undertaken by humanity. From this past June through June of 2012, Jupiter moves through the sign of Taurus.
So here we are, experiencing the heart of the Underworld journey for the Sacred Feminine (experienced collectively and personally), at the same time that humanity’s spiritual path is focused on the mysteries of Taurus. We are invited to move more fully from our minds to our hearts (Neptune and Regulus), yet the understandable impulse in times of great change can be to shut down, rather than to open up for a break through.
The most successful approach we can take in navigating the ongoing acceleration, upheaval, and extremity of our times is to slow down internally and, to the best of our ability, dwell in the present moment.
When we engage with Taurus energy we can accomplish a great deal because we are so fully absorbed with what is immediately in front of us. We are fully immersed in the physical reality of our work, our loving, our playing, and our creating. We are not looking too far into the future or the past because we are so fully engaged in the process of living the Now. This is the internal shift humanity–and every one of us glorious, courageous human beings–is invited to participate in at this time.
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