Planet Weather for the Week of October 12, 2008

 

NewsBits! TrooperGate or the Woes of Sarah Palin! Being booed at the opening of the Philly Flyers Hockey game aside, Sarah Palin is receiving bad press from the so-called “Troopergate” scandal. The Alaska legislative committee announced the findings from its investigation and cited Palin for abusing her authority and for ethics violations. State Police Commissioner, Walt Monegan states he was fired because he refused to give in to pressure from Palin and her husband Scott, who wanted Palin’s former brother-in-law fired. The investigation disclosed amateurish attempts to pressure Monegan via phone calls and emails. Beyond Troopergate, Palin has been fomenting hatred and inciting crowds with very negative statements about Obama, for one, saying he consorts with terrorists.

 

Somebody ought to tell the powers that be that pushed Palin onto the national/international stage, not to do it during her intense Neptune transit. We’ve discussed this before in Planet Weather, Sarah Palin is under the spell of Neptune conjunct her Sun. In her natal chart, she has a running conjunction of Sun @22, Mars @23, and Saturn @25 Aquarius. On 5/26/08, Neptune made a Retrograde Station @ 24 deg. at the midpoint of Palin’s Mars and Saturn beginning a long cycle involving her triple Aquarian conjunction (also called a stellium). She was suddenly propelled onto the political stage amidst glitz and glamour. But Neptune is tricky, the smoke and mirrors eventually clear, and the adoring idealization under Neptune has to accept concurring realities. This is what is happening now as Neptune is poised to make another Station, this time Direct @ 21deg. on 11/2/08, just before the USA Presidential elections! At the time of the Republican convention, Neptune Rx was exactly @ 22deg. on her Sun and now its station is within a degree of her Sun and will cross her Sun again exactly beginning mid-December 2008. One can only imagine the mix of emotions that Palin is feeling amidst the mixed reactions she is getting. Neptune is a dissolving agent, which is why in its highest expression it is associated with spirituality, idealism, compassion, and unity. Its method is to break things apart into their component parts, to soften the typical armor our souls inevitably erect, as we deal with an imperfect and harsh world. So, a Neptune transit shows us where we are mistaken, or where we have been blinded by the deep urges of our souls, and where we must adjust both to keep our faith and not only reach for ideals but partner those ideals with a practical reality, so that we are not living only in a dream world. Palin, as well as the rest of us, must look beyond the glamour and the projections we place on those who rise up from the collective to the national and international stage, and see the real person or the real possibility for a more ideal world, that we all want.

 

SkyWatch: Moon phase of the week: 10/14 -- The Moon reaches perfect Fullness at 4:03 PM ET, at 21 degrees of Aries. In folklore, this is the Hunter's Moon -- after the Harvest comes the Hunt. Skywatching events of the week: All week -- The so-called "naked eye" planets are all visible at one time or another for the rest of the month. From October to the end of the year, yellowish Saturn is visible in the early morning sky. Brilliant Jupiter is still visible in the early evening sky as He sets but will get too close to the sun as the year wears on. Mars is almost exactly opposite the Sun in the sky and so is especially well placed for viewing, rising as the Sun sets and ruddily culminating high in the sky around midnight in His "full" phase. (The planets pass through phases as seen from the Earth, just like the Moon.) For the rest of the year, Venus will remain the lovely Evening Star known to the ancients as Vesperus (hence our word "vespers" for religious ceremonies taking place at dusk). Mercury is in the process of reaching its greatest elongation West, and so will be visible just before sunrise for the next couple of weeks. Space news of the week: A small asteroid (about the size of a boulder) exploded in the Earth's atmosphere last week with a flash bright enough to be seen by anyone watching the right place. Asteroids of this size burn up in the atmosphere every few months, larger ones less often -- but they do, on occasion strike home, sometimes with devastating effect. (Not to be alarmist or anything!) 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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Week of 10/12/08 – Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 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 10/13/08, the Moon is VOC/Pisces from 1:02AM to 3:07AM EDT – On 10/15/08, the Moon is VOC/Aries from 3:36AM to 5:31AM EDT – On 10/17/08, the Moon is VOC/Taurus from 3:33AM to 6:25AM EDT.

 

PlanetPatterns:

The following planetary energy patterns flavor the day and are felt or experienced often hours before and after their exact culmination. They remain effective, certainly until the next major planetary pattern comes along to shift the energy gears.

 

The Sun in cardinal, air Libra trine (120deg.) Neptune Rx in fixed, air Aquarius @ 21deg. on 10/14/08 @ 9:19AM EDT. On the same day as this week’s Full Moon, the Sun meets Neptune, which stimulates the yearning for a more ideal life. This aspect is positive for reviewing your dreams, those that really speak to your innermost self and reinforcing the ones you want to keep alive and integrate into your life. Neptune also brings with it some form of confusion, whether that be to reach beyond our normal boundaries and find the compassion and empathy within, or to be disappointed when an ideal is unrealized and what we thought could be, is not. This aspect is the energy and the striving to reach an ideal and to continue to believe in our dreams in spite of discouraging signs.

 

** Mercury turns Stationary Direct @ 7 Libra on 10/15/08 @ 4:06PM EDT. The awaited day has arrived, Mercury Direct again. We’ve really been pulled under the waves during this retrograde (Rx) cycle. You may remember in a past issue of Planet Weather, I said that the tone would change once the ruler of Libra, Venus, changed signs and that is exactly what happened. Venus entered Scorpio on 9/23/08, the day before Mercury went retrograde, and it was on 9/29/08, that the stock market made the first of its free falls and a record-breaking drop of over 700 points. The same thing happened when Mars moved into Scorpio on 10/4/08, stimulating the stock market and the world markets to go wild and turn down, ending at its lowest point thus far on 10/10/08. Scorpio is the deep and often psychic instinct of the shadows that lurk beneath and that sometimes frighten us, upsetting our sense of safety and stability. Scorpio being a water sign is reactive and emotional as well as strategic and deeply perceptive. Mercury now cruises toward its shadow degree (where it first went retrograde) and then the cycle will be complete. Mercury reaches that degree on 10/30/08. This is the last Mercury Rx of 2008.

 

Venus enters mutable, fire Sagittarius on 10/18/08 @ 2:31PM EDT until 11/12/08. Venus in the adventurous sign of the Archer is setting its sights and going for the bull’s-eye. Venus’ most potent aspects during its stay in Sagittarius are a square to Saturn (sobering, pragmatic and constrained) on 11/3/08, and a conjunction with Pluto @ 29 Sagittarius on 11/12/08. This is likely to play a part in the last hurrah of the greed and speculation years (1995-2008). There could be another incident rising to the surface of the ways and means of manipulation and opportunism that is in part to blame for the breakdown of our financial system. Sagittarius also raises positive energy and spirit and at its best rises to the wisdom gained from life experience and provides the promise of a better educated tomorrow.