Planet Weather for the Week of May 31, 2009

NewsBits: It’s High Time for Another Woman on the High Court. Sonia Sotomayor will most likely be confirmed as the newest Supreme Court Judge, replacing Justice David Souter, who is retiring at the end of the summer session. Sotomayor, a Latina of humble beginnings, was born on 6/25/54 in the Bronx, New York. She is a Cancer Sun with three other Cancer planets, Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus as well as the South Node. This bestows a basic nurturing signature and the ability with Mercury in Cancer to listen empathetically. Her Mercury is retrograde, giving her more than the average tendency to be reflective about words, language, how she speaks, or mis-speaks, and how she is understood. There is already a controversy about how she expressed herself and her life circumstances.

Her Mars is exalted in Capricorn (does exceptionally well in that sign – energy is disciplined) but is retrograde at birth. A retrograde Mars tends to absorb anger internally and may have difficulty expressing it externally. In Capricorn it can be quite self-critical and blame itself for failures. Her Mars has a close opposition to the Sun (180deg.), giving great drive, the ability to set firm goals and achieve them, and Capricorn bestows the desire to work hard to attain mastery. So far, what we glean is that she is kind but firm and expects adherence to the rules. Her Moon, which tells us more about her Cancer grouping (the Moon rules the sign Cancer) is either in Aries or Taurus (her exact birth time is unavailable) and so it is difficult to speculate about her Moon. It changes from Aries to Taurus at about 4PM on her birthday.

Sotomayor is nominated (and will surely be confirmed) with Pluto retrograde exactly conjunct her Mars @ 2 Capricorn. As Pluto continues its journey through Capricorn, it will oppose each of Sotomayor’s Cancer planets in turn. We can expect a strong voice representing the common people, as she has said herself in interviews. These same sentiments have created a bit of a firestorm and bring concern to conservatives of a new liberal on the Bench. As with all of us, our life experiences shape our perspective but that does not mean that Sotomayor won’t be fair and equitable in applying the law and most of her rulings fall into the moderate category. The US Supreme Court needs to be balanced with more talented and wise women.

SkyWatch: Moon phases for the next three weeks: 5/31-6/6 -- Again, an entire week goes by without a change in Moon phase! This is especially unusual because the same thing happened only a couple of weeks ago! This is because changes in lunar phase are currently occurring at the beginning and end of most weeks, and each phase lasts roughly seven days. 6/7 -- The Moon reaches perfect Fullness at 12:12 PM EDT, at 17 degrees of Sagittarius. In various Native American and folklore traditions, this is the Strawberry Moon or Rose Moon. 6/15 -- The Moon enters her Last (aka Third) Quarter phase at 6:15 PM EDT, at 24 degrees of Pisces. Skywatching events for the next three weeks: 6/6 -- The Moon occults (passes in front of) the red giant, and astrological Royal Star Antares. A stellar occultation by the Moon is always worth watching and this event is well-timed and well-placed in the sky for viewing from parts of Canada and most of the continental US. Depending on your location, the occultation will start between about 10 PM and 11 PM EDT, when Moon and star can be seen low in the southeastern sky. The event will last a bit over an hour before Antares reappears on the opposite side of the Moon!  6/13 - The Waning Moon makes a close pass by Jupiter. Their point of closest approach occurs after both have set but they will be close together in the early morning sky for this day and the next. 6/19 -- The Waning Moon makes serial close passes by first Venus and then Mars. Again, their points of closest approach occur after sunrise but the three will rise very close together a couple of hours before sunrise, a sight definitely worth losing a little sleep to witness as Mars and Venus move slowly, slowly towards conjunction the following week. (Stay tuned!) Space news: Due to bad weather over Florida causing a delay of several days, Space Shuttle Atlantis finally put down at its alternate landing site in California after a highly successful mission repairing the Hubble Space Telescope and giving the famous instrument a new lease on life for several more years to come!  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 5/31/09 – Sunday, Wednesday and Friday 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 6/1/09, the Moon is VOC/Virgo from 4:32AM to 11:17AM EDT  – On 6/3/09, the Moon is VOC/Libra from 2PM to 6:44PM EDT – On 6/5/09, the Moon is VOC/Scorpio from 10:18PM to 4:24AM EDT (next day)!

 

Planet Patterns & Cosmic Headlines for the next few weeks:

 

Mars enters fixed, earth Taurus on 5/31/09 until 7/11/09. This pragmatic, common-sense, deliberate and stubborn Mars in Taurus extends the values theme (ruled by Venus) that has been predominant for most of this year. Recall the long Venus retrograde in Aries (ruled by Mars) 2/2-6/6/09. Mars will make a potent trine (120deg.) to Pluto early in its 6-week cycle, on 6/4/09, and conjunct Venus/Taurus on 6/21/09. All this interplay between Mars and Venus, Venus in Mars’ sign, Mars in Venus’ sign, is stimulating issues between men and women and any important relationships in your life. Mars in Taurus may be slow…but don’t forget the story of the tortoise and the hare. Taurus is consistent and persistent and won’t stop until it reaches its goal. It will use its pragmatic compass to cut through any confusion. It prefers simplicity and uncomplicated, steady progress. Stay the course! [Except if you happen to be occupying another country.]

 

Venus enters fixed, earth Taurus on 6/6/09 until 7/5/09. This is one of Venus’ home signs, it’s very comfortable here and able to express its essential nature – sweetness, kindness, pleasure. With both Mars and Venus in Taurus, sweetness and comfort rule. We’ll be drawn to the good things and may wind up overspending a bit this month. Remember the phrase, “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”? Surely this was first uttered by a Taurus-type! Taurus is persistent, and with the help of lots of sweet talk and schmoozing you are quite likely to get exactly what you want.

 

*Mercury Re-enters Gemini (after its retrograde cycle back into Taurus) on 6/13/09 until 7/3/09.

**Currently Active: Mercury turned Direct @ 22deg. Taurus on 5/30/09. Mercury passes its shadow (degree at which it turned retrograde) on 6/15/09. Mercury turned retrograde (Rx) @ 1deg. Gemini on 5/7/09. Mercury slipped back into Taurus on 5/13/09. This Mercury Rx cycle formed squares with Jupiter and Neptune, both in Aquarius. The first ones took place on 4/22 and 4/25/09. The second squares took place on 5/20/09. The third and final squares take place on 6/9 and 6/10/09. Time to untangle any confused thinking. Take your time and evaluate the variables.

 

Jupiter turns Stationary Retrograde (SR) on 6/15/09 @ 27deg. Aquarius until 10/13/09. If you’ve stretched yourself in any way, made plans to expand, or had opportunities offered to you, now’s the chance to review whether you can handle the expansion, or which opportunities you want to take advantage of and which are even worthwhile. Now’s the time to reorganize your expansion plans.

 

The Sun in mutable, air Gemini trines (120deg.) Neptune in fixed, air Aquarius, squares (90deg.) Uranus in mutable, water Pisces and trines Jupiter/Aquarius all on the same day, 6/17/09! The Sun represents our leaders, and in general, our level of awareness of life as we are living it. There’s a chance at reaching a higher level of consciousness and having greater understanding of important situations of your life, in all their multiplexity. In the global perspective, by better understanding cultural habits, norms, and inclinations, we can all get along better than before. Expect some new or renewed dialogue with these patterns. In fact, the Middle-East Peace process may come foreground yet again.

 

*Currently Active Paradigm-Shift Pattern: 

Jupiter in fixed air, Aquarius conjunct (0deg.) Neptune/Aquarius @ 26 deg. on 5/27/09. This is the first of three conjunctions (meeting at the same sign and degree) between these two planets. It is rare to have these two planets that meet by conjunction about every 12 years make this aspect three separate times in their cycle. The last triple occurrence was in 1919-1920! The next time will be in 2047 –2048! So…don’t miss the message and the spiritual infusion. In the current cycle, the next two times Jupiter and Neptune conjoin will be on 7/10/09 and 12/21/09. From now through the end of the year, you have the opportunity to have some of your dreams come true or at least see them begin to emerge. This combination is about the power of believing. Whatever you believe in the most private recesses of your souls, will be. Expect some dreams to simply evaporate as you realize you did not see clearly into a situation, and what you hoped and expected is not what you want after all. This is a year of amazing synchronicity and coincidence, the typical calling cards of Neptune and enhanced by Jupiter. People connections will be magical and there will be cause for much celebration. Beyond all that, this aspect offers great spiritual insight and the growth of love, compassion, and understanding for all of us as we maneuver through life on the little blue marble in space.

 

*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.  – Preview: Part 3 of 5 is exact on 9/15/09 @ 24degrees. The first four oppositions between these two planets take place in the signs Virgo/Pisces, and the last one is in Aries/Libra in July 2010. The first opposition took place on 11/4/08! We’re in a construction zone but we have an excellent Contractor [J] overseeing the new build! What are you working at in your life and what are you tearing down and rebuilding? Where does this opposition takes place in your chart? Consult with your astrologer for a professional analysis.