Planet Weather for the Week of February 8, 2009

 

NewsBits: Stimulus Stall and Taxing Problems! Well there’s no real surprise here. Things are not moving as fast as anyone would like right now, in any sector. We’ve just gone through the second of five oppositions between Saturn and Uranus (2/5/09) and the tension between the old way and the new patterns is apparent, and the first phase of that is always a stalling. Making the decision to depart from old habits always creates uncertainty, indecision and the need to process longer. This astrologer has wondered how a VOC Moon @ 29 Scorpio for Obama’s Inauguration (1/20/09 12:05PM ET) would manifest. There’s a certain amount of being stuck that goes along with a Scorpio Moon – we could say over-processing, holding back, holding in, resentment and eventually unblocking, flow and healing. Add to that the aforementioned Saturn/Uranus opposition falling very close to President Obama’s Mars @ 22 Virgo and the frustration is visible.

 

Obama is showing his annoyance, impatience, anger and consternation with the delays to his plan of action (Saturn on his Mars). It will happen but not as fast as he had hoped. Saturn is retreating from Obama’s Mars but it did make its Rx station @ 21deg. nearly on top of his birth Mars – so the energy is operative and it means, essentially delays. And bureaucratic balking (read Congress). The Scorpio Moon at the Inauguration indicates the series of tax problems with his nominees and again, the fact that his most pressing concern is the economy and laying out billions in a relief package. One cannot be surprised that Congress is balking, since the amount of money the government is poised to spend is astronomical, and hard to fathom. The USA is about to take on more debt than ever before in its history and Main Street is still wondering about the disbursement of those funds and why banks are still not lending to the middle class. We are moving in uncharted economic waters in so many ways that the tension can be cut with a knife. Things will move as Mercury enters Aquarius on 2/14/09 and then goes past its shadow degree on 2/21/09. President Obama has his work cut out for him, and Congress is not going to make it easy for him, unfortunately. This is simply an indicator for the times – things will go more slowly because caution and circumspection is the new name of the game.

 

SkyWatch: Moon phase of the week: 2/9 -- The Moon reaches perfect Fullness at 9:49 AM EST, at 21 degrees of Leo. In Native American and folklore traditions, this is the Snow Moon (gee, SkyWatch wonders why that would be?) and sometimes the Hunger Moon. This Full Moon also coincides with a lunar eclipse, the follow-up to the annular solar eclipse that occurred two weeks ago. Unfortunately, this eclipse will not be visible from most of the Western Hemisphere, since it occurs well after moonset, but the other half of the Earth should get a good view. Skywatching events of the week: 2/11 -- The Full Moon makes a close pass by Saturn. This Moon rises an hour or so after sunset the previous evening, and then Saturn rises below the Moon about an hour later. Although their point of closest approach occurs after both have set the next morning, if you were to watch this pair all night, you could actually see the Moon visibly get nearer and nearer Saturn. (The Moon tools along the Zodiac at about one-half of a degree per hour, while Saturn will move only a tiny fraction of a degree during the whole night.) Space news of the week: Astronomers have discovered a new comet! Named Comet Lulin after the Taiwanese observatory where it was discovered on photographs, this new comet may become visible to the unaided eye around the end of February. Stay tuned. Go out! Look up!

 

 Knowing when VOC Moons occur is key to planning your successful week!

 

The Void-of-course (VOC) Moon is a kind of limbo. As it reaches the end of a sign, the Moon makes no major aspect to another planet before it enters the next sign. VOC is best for less outcome-oriented activity, since VOC often means detours, distractions, drifting, or delays. If you want specific outcomes, or if timeliness is critical, don’t use a VOC Moon time. VOC is best for processing, imagining, creating, and open-ended activities, like parties, research, or cleaning your desk/closet for instance! It is said that when a new action is initiated during VOC, “nothing will come of it,” or energies go in unplanned directions, which may not necessarily be negative.

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Week of 2/8/09 – Sunday (pleasant, lazy), Monday (overwhelmed), Tuesday (focused), are as noted – Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday are the most active energetically and potentially very productive days – more Moon or planetary aspects for engagement with others or projects, and/or producing results. On 2/9/09, the Moon is VOC Leo from 2:29PM to 12:38AM EST (next day). – On 2/11/09, the Moon is VOC/Virgo from 11:17PM to 3:33AM EST (next day). – On 2/14/09, the Moon is VOC/Libra from 9:46AM to 9:51AM EST (very short)!

 

Planet Patterns & Cosmic Headlines

Currently Active – Mercury is Direct in Motion but still in its outer retrograde phase. Mercury/Aquarius turned Rx @ 7degrees on 1/11/09 and passes that shadow degree on 2/21/08. After that time, the deeper retrograde processing ends, and the solutions that were tossed about and entertained, will be easier to implement. Mercury turned Direct on 2/1/09 @ 21deg. cardinal, earth Capricorn. Mercury re-enters fixed, air Aquarius on 2/14/09. (Mercury was Rx in Capricorn between 1/21 and 2/1/09). As mentioned before, both Aquarius and Capricorn are related to Saturn and we are steeped in Saturn issues because of Pluto’s entry into Capricorn on 11/26/08, where it will remain for the next 16 years. This first Mercury retrograde of 2009 is compelling us to understand what structures we have created, how they bind us or how they support us. It also asks us to define what we are doing, and to rationalize our decisions. We are asked to be more accountable and pragmatic in all ways.

 

*Venus Rx alert! Venus entered cardinal, fire Aries on 2/2/09, then quickly squared Pluto/Capricorn on 2/5/09 (Did you feel it?). Venus/Aries turns Rx on 3/6/09. This is a heads-up – we are asked now to look at what is valuable in our lives by way of noticing what is not working or what we have placed value upon that we no longer value or want. What is it that you have held on to -- an idea, an ideal, a relationship, a notion of what relationships are – that is simply not working, or inconsistent with how you have matured and the level of consciousness you have achieved. At the same time, Venus in Aries breeds a desire to forge ahead to experience something new, to progress, to pioneer, to feel the zest, the rush of life itself in its instantaneous unfoldment.

 

Sun in fixed air Aquarius conjunct Neptune/Aquarius @ 23deg. on 2/12/09. This aspect, exact this week, lifts us to the ideals we harbor and cherish, whether they are currently present in our lives or not. What matters is that we believe in them, that we want them and that we strive for them, despite the fact that we often do not reach the culmination of that ideal. We’ve experienced Neptune/Aquarius conjunct the Sun/Aquarius since 1999, and we have been prompted to widen our understanding, expand our networks (read Internet explosion) and recognize our six degrees of separation more and more. We are all truly one consciousness and we all contribute to the good or ill of the whole.

 

Currently Active Paradigm-Shift Pattern: Part 2 of 5 – Saturn in mutable, earth Virgo opposite (180 deg. angle) Uranus in mutable, water Pisces on 2/5/09 @ 20 deg. We’ve passed the second of five of these challenging oppositions, ending July 2010. Virgos and Pisceans – those in the last third of the sign – are being provoked to get their act together the most, by this configuration. To a similar extent, Geminis and Sagittarians in the last third of the sign – or anyone with planets within +/- 20deg. will feel the effect of this deconstruction/reconstruction more poignantly. To understand the dynamics of this aspect look at what is present in your life and how you can shift things to move yourself into a future that is more creative and free from excess worry and concern.