Planet Weather for the Week of October 14, 2007

                                                                                                                                  

SkyWatch – Moon phase of the week: 10/19 -- The Moon enters Her First Quarter phase at at 4:33 AM EDT, at 25 degrees of Capricorn, the sign of Her detriment (opposite Cancer, the sign of Her rulership). Skywatching events of the week: 10/15 -- Two celestial trifectas! In the morning, Venus will pass within three degrees of Saturn. Although their point of closest approach takes place well after sunrise when they are no longer be visible, they will still be very close in the hours just before dawn, together with the bright, astrological "Royal Star" Regulus shining directly between them in the constellation Leo, the Lion. (Venus is now rising shortly after 3 AM local time, the earliest this "morning and evening star" rises all year.) The other "celestial trifecta" occurs the following evening and involves again two planets and a star, to wit, the Moon (called a "planet" in astrology, as is the Sun), Jupiter, and another bright astrological Royal Star, Antares. If you look to the Southwest as it gets dark, Jupiter will appear more or less above the Moon with Antares to the right. Space news of the week: October 15, 2007, is the tenth anniversary of one of the most successful space missions ever launched, the Cassini-Huygens Saturn probe. Orbiting the ringed planet, NASA's Cassini portion of this mission continues to return stunning pictures of Saturn's moons, ring system, and the planet itself. The Huygens probe, designed and built by the European Space Agency (ESA), landed on Saturn's largest moon Titan several years ago, shortly after Cassini-Huygens arrived at the Saturn system. During its descent phase, Huygens returned close-ups of Titan that revealed its nature as a kind of "deep-freeze Earth" and was the first lander ever to touch down on the moon of another planet. Happy Birthday, Cassini-Huygens! Go out! Look up!

 

Knowing when VOC Moons occur is a key to planning your astrological 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 phase. 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 10/14/07 – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are the most active energetically and potentially most productive days (depending on what you’re doing!) On 10/16/07, the Moon is VOC/Sagittarius from 8:32PM to 3:03AM EDT (10/17/07) – on 10/19/07, VOC/Capricorn from 4:33AM to 12:52PM 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.

 

Venus in mutable, earth Virgo conjuncts (0deg.) Saturn/Virgo on Sunday, @ 4deg. on October 14, 2007 @ 12:28AM EDT.  You had the long Venus retrograde cycle (since 6/22/07) to define and redefine your prevailing value system and your wants and needs in the realm of relationships. Money issues may have surfaced; you may have focused on your appearance, and on your general ways of behaving in interpersonal relationships. People from the past could have reappeared in your life. And now, Saturn’s conjunction with Venus allows you to make assessments and possibly decisions about some or all of those matters. This combination in particular is concerned with practical applications and workability.

 

Venus/Virgo sextile (60deg.) Mars in cardinal, water Cancer @ 6deg. on 10/16/07 @ 1:37PM EDT.  Most of this week’s planetary aspects are sextiles and trines, which means, in general, that there are opportunities presenting themselves based on the characteristics of the aspects but there is no strong impulse or pressure to make changes. These types of aspects need more of a conscious effort to make them work to their full potential. When Mars and Venus meet, there’s always more opportunity for male/female interaction and social schmoozing in general. So enjoy the banter, energy, and engagement.

 

Mercury Retrograde (Rx) in fixed, water Scorpio sextile Venus/Virgo @ 6deg. on 10/16/07 @ 11:18PM EDT. You are about to discover some new information about a relationship matter that you did not know before. You have the chance to refine financial matters or question other Venusian aspects of your life such as beauty, appearance, and any conditions and situations involving interactions with others. The most important ingredient here is – What are your motives, intentions or desires? In fact you may be asking that about another person as well!

 

Mercury turned retrograde @ 9deg. Scorpio on 10/12/07 @ 12:00AM EDT. Mercury entered fixed, water Scorpio on 9/27/07 @ 1:18PM EDT until 10/23/07 when it retrogrades back into Libra. Mercury re-enters Scorpio on 11/11/07 until 12/1/07. Mercury turns Direct on 11/1/07. Have you felt the influence of this call to deepening? A retrograde can sometimes stop you in your tracks, so that you can pause and reassess what is happening, and at times, help you avoid a serious mistake. Ask yourself why you are being stopped or delayed. It may very well be to your benefit.

 

Mercury Rx/Scorpio trine (120deg.) Mars/Cancer @ 7deg. on 10/17/07 @ 4:36AM EDT.  Whatever previously hidden information Mercury Rx is digging up, it could easily affect actions you take or not. This aspect can bring hurt feelings or sensitive angst among people to whom you are close. Mercury/Scorpio often probes old wounds and it’s important to be honest with yourself regarding what is most important – your hurt feelings, or your ongoing relationships.

 

Mercury Rx/Scorpio sextile Saturn/Virgo @ 5deg. on 10/19/07 @ 9:54AM EDT. Saturn’s influence can put a cold, practical eye on the matter at hand and assess the extent of its influence. If the information you uncovered is useful, then it will make ongoing progress better. If not, you will have to regroup and retrace your path, until problems or obstacles are repaired. One way of looking at delay is to be glad that you found what the problem was, with the chance to fix before it got even bigger!

 

Sun in cardinal, air Libra sextile Pluto in mutable, fire Sagittarius @ 26deg. on 10/20/07 @ 9:36AM EDT. This energy pattern allows you to harness some residual or latent resources and apply them to a goal that is most important to you at this time. There is also indication of reallocating resources you already have and rearranging them in ways that are more fruitful and beneficial. The essence of the aspect is to increase your overall growth and influence. You may encounter powerful others who can assist you with your own goals.

 

** Mars Retrograde Alert! Mars entered cardinal, water Cancer on 9/28/07 and will turn retrograde on 11/15/07 in this sign. Mars re-enters Gemini on 12/31/07 and turns direct in Gemini on 1/31/08. Mars re-enters Cancer on 3/5/08 and then remains in Cancer until 5/10/08. As with all retrogrades, there is often a returning to something previous – in this case, a previous action, goal, or way of behaving. A Mars Rx affects males a bit more and the male or aggressive/assertive energy in all of us.

                                           

NewsBits: Al Gore shares Nobel Peace Prize with the United Nations! Al Gore takes the prize. It could have been the White House but hey, the Nobel Prize for Peace is a good second, I guess! Al Gore shares this year’s Nobel with the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, made up of hundreds of scientists worldwide who have studied the issue of global warming. Gore himself, true to his Aries nature activism, was one of the first throughout his political career to focus on the issue of climate change and specifically, global warming, bringing it into public awareness. Uranus/Pisces conjuncting Gore’s Mercury/Pisces and Saturn and Venus, both in Virgo, making a smooth trine to his Moon in early Capricorn, expressed astrologically this honor in his life. The once-every-12-year Jupiter return to his position of 28 Sagittarius also helped to boost Gore’s visibility and expand his influence.

The question on everyone’s lips now is – Will Al Gore run again for President of the United States? He won once, can he win again – and can he win against Hillary Clinton? Is he willing to take on the current Democratic front-runner and open up the Clinton/Gore wounds by running against her? Gores says that no, he won’t run. However, his transits are very active over the next six months. Jupiter enters Capricorn on 12/18/07, and quickly conjoins Gore’s Moon @ 3deg. This would serve to expand him emotionally and stimulate his willingness to take greater risk and/or to feel optimistic. Of course, this energy can be applied to many things, including new ways of working with his pet environmental projects. The long Mars/Cancer retrograde is opposing his Moon/Capricorn (3 times), keeping him in the public eye, and it comes close to making its direct station (1/31/08) opposite his newly infused Jupiter/Sagittarius and conjunct his Uranus @ 22Gemini. Then, Pluto’s first foray into Capricorn (1/26/08) moves toward Gore’s Moon @ 3deg. Pluto makes its first retrograde station @ 1 Capricorn (very close) and later in the year (7/31/08) Pluto makes its last station direct @ 28 Sagittarius, exactly on Gore’s Jupiter! It seems that Al Gore may be the dark horse coming into this race and if he does, will cause great controversy. Gore’s progressed Moon has also just changed signs (1.5 months ago) and will spend the next 2.5 years in Pisces. In a few months, his progressed Moon opposes his progressed Mars – which is also an indication of active engagement with the public. This progressed axis is also being stimulated by transiting Saturn in Virgo.  It will be fascinating to observe how Al Gore responds to these intense series of stimuli. We’ll be watching.  – Speaking about global warming and the environment as international issues, he said: “They’re really moral imperatives disguised as political problems. Our challenge is to see them in their true light.”